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THE 



Centennial Liberty Bell. 

•• 

INDEPENDENCE HALL; 

ITS TRADITIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 



THE 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

AND ITS SIGNERS. 

WITH 

JLN A-IPIPEHSTDIX 

EMBRACING 

The Opening Ceremonies of the International Exhibition, 

AND OF THE 

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

Of July 4th, 1876. 

BY 

JOS. S. LONGSHORE, M. D., 

AND 

BENJAMIN L. KNOWLES, Esq. 



" Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land ; unto all the Inhabitants thereof." 



PHILADELPHIA: 

CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER. 

624, 626, 628 MARKET ST. 

1876. 



W' V 



ELzz/ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by 

JOS. S. LONGSHORE, M. D., 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



GRANT, FAIRES & RODGERS 

BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, 

PHILADELPHIA. 



PREFACE. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

American Independence constitutes the central idea 
presented in the following pages ; commencing with a 
concise history of Independence Hall, where Indepen- 
dence was declared and promulgated. An account of 
the Bell that proclaimed it. A reference to some of 
the acts of vandalism and outrages in 1776, that drove 
the colonists to seek Independence as their only re- 
fuge against a further continuance, and more aggrava- 
ted acts, of oppression and injustice. Also a series of 
transactions of the Continental Congress, in relation to 
Independence, immediately preceding its final action 
on the subject. The adoption of the Declaration ; the 
signing ; and brief biographical sketches of the signers 
thereof. Letters of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, 
in relation to the Declaration, its authenticity, &c. 
The Appendix, detailing the opening ceremonies of the 
great International Exhibition, commemorative of our 
National Independence ; and finally, the celebration of 

iii 



iV PREFACE. 

the Fourth of July, 1876, the centennial anniversary of 
our National birth-day. 

The extracts from the proceedings of Congress are 
exact copies taken from the secret Journal of the Hpuse, 
in which the orthography, punctuation and style of the 
times are preserved, affording an opportunity for insti- 
tuting comparisions between the written expressions of 
that time, and those of the present, and for noting the 
difference. It will be observed that the improvements 
in the republic of letters, within the last hundred years, 
are as obvious as those seen in other departments of 
art, such as are now being demonstrated in the great 
International Exhibition in this city. L. 



15* 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



The old State House or Independence Hall.— When 
known only as the State House— When as Indepen- 
dence Hall— This Hall, and the old « Liberty Bell,"— 
Objects of attraction to visitors — For what purpose 
the hall was built, and when— When the East and West 
wings were built— The cost of building— City Library 
— The wings removed— The present wings built— Their 
cos t — Their present use — Dimensions of the interior of 
the Main Building— First floor— East room— Its uses 
West room, its uses— Committee of Restoration — "Na- 
tional Museum"— Second story, its former and present 
uses— Banqueting Room— Council Chambers, 7 to 15 
The Steeple.— The Original Steeple, Height, Decay, re- 
moved — Re-erected— Clock— Seybert Clock and Bell, io-il 
State House Bells and Clocks.— " Liberty Bell"— Inde- 
pendence Bell— The Original Clock— A New Clock and 
Bell— The Centennial Liberty Bell— Removal of the Bell 
and Clock— The New Seybert Bell and Clock, . n-23 
Washington Monument, 2 4 
Meeting of the Early Congresses, and the Inaugura- 
tion of the First two Presidents, . • 24 
First Congress Under the Constitution, . . 24 
Historical Events of 1776, . • • • 2X > 
Cannonading and Burning of Norfolk, Virginia,. . 25-27 
The Flag, ...... 2 7 

The King's Speech, . 

Thomas Paine, ..... Z l 

Common Sense, . . . . • ' 

England.— Thirty Kings— Volumes have been written— The 
Sun Never Shone— But Great Britain— Britain— But Eu- 
rope — England only — Much hath been said — Chal- 
lenge—Every Thing — It is repugnant— England to Eu- 
rope—America to itself— The King— Reconciliation— The 
Colonies— The King of America— The present— A 
manifest— Every quiet method— A Government— The 
King's Speech— Samuel Adams— New England 29-33 

Evacuation of Boston.— The British Army— Washington— 



Vi CONTENTS. 

Lord Howe — The Loyal Inhabitants in Boston — The 
Fleets — Every roof — The Commander-in-chief — The mu- 
nitions of war — This Bloodless Victory — Washington en- 
tered Boston — First Important Victory — Journal of Con- 
gress — Vote of Thanks by Congress — The Washington 
Medal — Its value — Its whereabouts — Letters from John 
Hancock — From John Adams, . . . 34-40 

Instructions from Virginia. — Richard Henry Lee's reso- 
lution in Congress — Committee appointed to prepare a 
Declaration — Committee on Confederation — Committee 
to treat with Foreign Powers — The Deputies of Penn- 
sylvania — New Jersey Delegates — Mr. Dickinson's 
Speech — Resolution of Independence agreed to — Speech 
of John Adams — Mr. Webster's addition to it — Declara- 
tion of Independence agreed to — Signed — Read to the 
Army, &c, — Read to the populace of Philadelphia — 
Amendment — The signers and signing of the Declara- 
tion, ...... 4 I ~5 6 

Delegates Constituting the Congress July 4, 1776, . 56 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts — Rhode Island, Connecti- 
cut — New York, New Jersey — Pennsylvania — Delaware 
— Maryland — Virginia, North Carolina — South Carolina 
— Georgia — Number of delegates July 4 — Number Au- 
gust 2, . . . . . . 56-60 

The Original Declaration Restored to the old Hall, 60 
Proceedings. — Mr. Alonzo Bell's speech — Mayor Stokley's 

response, ...... 62-63 

Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Samuel A. Wells — From 
Thomas Jefferson to James Madison — From Thomas 
Jefferson to John Adams — From John Adams to Abigail 
his wife, ...... 64-71 

Colonial Legislatures, Conventions, Committees or 
I Councils of Safety, Committees of Correspon- 
dence, ...... 71-75 

Events of 1776. History of Our Flag, . . 75—78 

Signers of the Declaration of Independence, . 79 

New Hampshire, Josiah Bartlet, William Whipple, Matthew 

Thornton, . . . . . . 79 

Massachusetts, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, John Adams, 

Elbridge Gerry, Robert Treat Paine, . . 79-85 

Rhode Island, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery, . 86-87 
Connecticut, Roger Sherman, William Williams, Samuel 

Huntington, ..... 88-89 

New York, William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, 

Lewis Morris, . ... 89-90 

New Jersey, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, D. D., 

L.L. D., Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Adam Clark, 90-91 



CONTENTS. Vll 

Pennsylvania, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, M. D., Ben- 
jamin Franklin, LL. D., John Morton, George Clymer, 
James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George 
Ross, ...... 91-101 

Delaware, Csesar Rodney, Thomas McClain, Geo. Reed, 101-102 

Maryland, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, 

Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, . . . 102-104 

Virginia, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jef- 
ferson, Benjamin Harrison, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Thos. 
Nelson, Carter Braxton, . . . 104-112 

North Carolina, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John 

Penn, ...... 112-114 

South Carolina, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, 

Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton, . . 114-116 

Georgia, Burton Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton, 11 7-1 18 

Contents of the Appendix. 

Opening Day of the International Exhibition — The Grounds 
of the Exhibition — Funds — What other Nations have 
done — Ceremonies at the Grounds — Programme — The 
Opening Ceremonies — The Exhibition opened by the 
Grandest Ceremonies ever Witnessed in America — The 
scene at Mr. Child's residence — A Grand Holiday — The 
Ceremonies — Arrival of the Emperor of Brazil — Arrival 
of Distinguished Guests — The President and Cabinet — The 
Supreme Court — The Diplomatic Corps — Legislative Bo- 
dies and Officials — United States Centennial Commission 
— The Centennial Board of Finance — Women's Centen- 
nial Executive Committee — Naval Officers — Officers of 
the Army — Entrance of President Grant — Prayer by the 
Rt. Rev. Bishop Simpson — Whittier's Centennial Hymn 
— Mr. John Welsh's Address — The Cantata — The presen- 
tation by Gen. Hawley — The President's Reply — The 
Procession through the Buildings — The number of Visi- 
tors — Police Arrangements, . . . 1 19-15 1 

The Centennial Celebration of the Adoption of the 
Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1876. — The 
Public Ledger — The close of the Century — Scenes in the 
City — The Illuminations and Decorations — The Great 
Torchlight Demonstration — The scene at Independence 
Hall and Square — Ringing in the New Century — The 
Centennial Fourth of July — The Celebration of the birth 
of the New Century — The Military — Total Abstinence 
Societies, and the Monster Mass Meeting — The fireworks 
in the Park — Incidents and Occurrences in the Streets — 
Ceremonies in Independence Square — Reading the Origi- 



Vlil CONTENTS. 

nal Declaration — The Oration — The Distinguished Guests 
and the Great Multitude — Gen. Hawley's Address — The 
Vice President's Address — Prayer by Bishop Stevens — 
Welcome to all Nations — Greeting from Brazil — The 
National Ode — Old Hundred— Unveiling of the Humboldt 
Monument in the Park — The Total Abstinence Benevo- 
lent Union Demonstration — Ceremonies — Rev. Patrick 
Byrne — Mr. John H. Campbell — Dr. Michael O'Hara 
— Rev. James O'Reilly — Woman's Declaration of 
Rights, ...... 152-186 



THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 



THE OLD STATE HOUSE OR INDEPENDENCE HALL 
AND THE LIBERTY BELL. 

"The State House," previously to the adoption of 
the Declaration of Independence, was known by that 
name only. To Philadelphians this title still remains 
the more familiar one, and it is not generally spoken 
of by any other. 

After Independence was declared in 1776, it received 
the name of "Independence Hall," and among people 
outside of the city, and foreigners especially, it is known 
and alluded to by that title alone. 

The Old State House and Liberty bell are centers of 
attraction, to which most visitors to the city gravitate, 
as if by a natural impulse, and by the quiet, pensive, 
earnest attention they bestow upon every object and 
relic preserved within its halls, and the low and reflec- 
tive tone of their voices, as they pass from object to ob- 
ject, show that they feel they are within consecrated 
enclosures ; and the deep reverential impression depicted 
upon their countenances, as they gaze upon the old Liber- 
ty Bell, with its disabling fracture, and read the date of its 
casting, and its memorable inscription, "Proclaim 
liberty throughout all the land and to all the inhabi- 
tants thereof," indicate their inner emotions, and that 



2 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

they regard the relic before them as one, made sacred 
by the part it played in the great revolutionary drama, 
in those " times that tried men's souls." 

The State House, formerly considered a large and 
stately edifice, but in these days regarded as of very 
modest pretensions, is a plain structure two stories high, 
presenting a semi-antique style of architecture ; and is 
located on the south side of Chestnut street, midway 
between Fifth and Sixth streets. It was originally de- 
signed as a place for transacting the public business of 
City and Colony. The building was commenced in 
1729, and completed in 1734, at a cost of $16,000. The 
two wings extending east and west, from the central 
building, were not erected until 1739 and 1740, and at 
an additional cost of $12,000. The second story of the 
east wing, was occupied by the City Library, founded 
by Dr, Franklin in 1731 ; it continued there from 1740 
to 1773, when it was removed to " Carpenter's Hall," 
where it remained until 1 790. It is now known as the 
"Philadelphia Library" and is located at the N. E. 
corner of Fifth and Library streets. 

These wings were removed about the year 1829. Mr. 
Watson, in his " Annals of Philadelphia," in relation 
to this event, remarks, " For many years the public 
papers of the Colony, and afterwards of the City and 
State, were kept in the east and west wings of the State 
House, without any fire-proof security, as they now pos- 
sess. From their manifest insecurity, it was deemed pro- 
per, about nineteen years ago (now forty-seven), to pull 
down these former two-story wings, and to supply their 
places by those which are now there. In former times 
such important papers as rest with the Prothonotaries 
were kept in their offices at their family residences." 
The present wings are occupied as offices, for the Law 
Department of the City Government. 

The interior of the main building is one hundred and 
ten feet in length by forty-five in width. The first floor 
is divided into two rooms, forty-five feet square, by a 
hall-way twenty feet wide, running the entire width of 



INDEPENDENCE HALL. £ 

the building, from north to south. The two rooms are 
situated on the east and west of the hall. The east room 
being on the left, and the west one on the right as you 
enter. Previously to the year 1775, the east room was 
occupied by the Provincial Assembly, and the west one 
by the Supreme Court of Judicature. In this year the 
second Continental Congress assembled in the east 
room, on the tenth of May, and continued in possession 
of it until the early part of 1777, when Congress retired 
to Lancaster, thence to York, Pennsylvania, on account 
of the near approach of Lord Cornwallis and the British 
Army. They remained in session in York for nine 
months. It was in this room that emanated those peti- 
tions and prayers to the British Government for a re- 
dress of grievances, for reconciliation and peace, that 
were contemned, scorned and despised. It was here the 
representatives of the colonies, goaded by repeated 
wrongs, oppressions and outrages, ceased to supplicate, 
but prepared for defence. It was here, that they, on 
the Fourth of July, 1776, broke the yoke of British 
bondage, and declared the thirteen United Colonies, 
free and independent States. 

Here mighty minds went forth in discussing great 
principles, and grappled, in mortal combat, with the 
stupendous results of their Declaration. Here error was 
stricken down by truth. Here right triumphed over 
wrong. During that period of American history, be- 
tween the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, 
July 4th, 1776, and the ratification of the Constitution 
of the United States, on the 17th of September, 1787, 
there was no fundamental law for their government ; 
the responsibilities of the existing emergencies, as well 
as the future prospects of the country, necessarily de- 
volved upon that Congress, requiring the greatest wis- 
dom and prudence, as well as patriotism and firmness to 
guide the ship of state through the most turbulent and 
darkest period of the revolutionary struggle, and estab- 
lish the basis of a Republican form of Government, des- 
tined for an indefinite perpetuity, and to embrace, ulti- 



4 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

mately, in its benign influence the entire human race. 
Here was adopted the immortal manifesto that secured 
the freedom of America, and here that devoted band of 
patriots attached to it, their signatures, pledging their 
lives, their liberty, and their sacred honor to maintain 
and defend its principles. This is emphatically the 
Mecca of Equal Rights, the birth-place of freedom, the 
Temple of Liberty ! Ye, liberty-loving, devoted pil- 
grims, bare your heads, as you enter its portals, for 
the spot is sacred ! consecrated by the blood of your 
fathers, shed to secure you the religious and civil liber- 
ties, you are now enjoying. 

After the room was evacuated by Congress, it was next 
occupied by the Representative branch of the State 
Legislature ; which was removed to Lancaster in 1799, 
and thence to Harrisburg in 181 2. After which it was 
used for the reception and preservation of the portraits 
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, many 
of which at this time decorate its walls, and articles of 
furniture, and other relics, possessing some special in- 
terest, derived from their association with past histori- 
cal events. Washington delivered his memorable " fare- 
well address " in this room, September 7, 1796. It has 
been frequently used as the reception-room of distin- 
guished visitors, and the Presidents of the United 
States. Previously to the late visit of Gen. Lafayette 
(1824), says Sherman Day, " Some dunce in office who 
had control of the Building, by way of making the room 
where the Declaration took place more worthy, as he 
thought, of the nation's guest, for whose use Councils 
had appropriated it, had all the antique architectural 
decorations and furniture of the room removed and 
caused it to be fitted up in modern style with mahogany 
furniture, tapestry, &c. This silly act was not discov- 
ered until too late, and it greatly diminished the plea- 
sing associations that must have thronged the heart of 
Lafayette, as he stood once more in that sacred hall. 
The error has been since repaired, so far as it could be, 
by restoring the hall as far as possible to its ancient ap- 



INDEPENDENCE HALL. 

Pearance. " The corpse of the venerable John Quincv 
Adams here lay in state, February iS^R ™ -r X 
to Massachusetts for burial. The Zm his, subs que"? 
\y, been used for the same purpose, on several sSaV 
occasions. Ehsha Kent Kane, M. D„ the A etc Ex' 

sasasaa 2=3 Suisse 

akrtcnTf th % Pr f entWritin S contain s «ot only 
a large collection of the portraits of the signers of the 

Declaration of Independence, which adorn fe walls on 

"est but a tlt SeVeral ? th6r hiSt0dC a " ides of gTeat i°n" 
teres , but the original, engrossed copy of the Declara- 

tiZ Tf'^f M t gna Cha " a of a11 °™ rel gfous! poU 
teal and civil rights, as it received the signatures of its 
illustrious framers one hundred years ago.-It i a m - 

a[r°e iThaTno?^ ""' ^ Ca * t0d ™ S °f this' imlt 
tal relic had not exercised more care, even in regard to 

meTif no?™ V^ "^ The ^ of tSr ,- 
ment s not a sufficient reason, for its present faded 
condition the entire obliteration of many of the 
names a d the al ffl Qf ^ ^ of he 

ment, or paper may change its color by time but chem- 
ical action alone, other than that of toe?' or the £- 
mosphere, ean account for this wanton de trucHon of 
the coloring matter in the ink, that which gives the do- 
cument all its value. Culpable carelessness^cr iminal 
design somewhere has contributed largely to this most 

o a f m Geo a rt W Ul !-- And alS ° t,K ° H "™ 1 commission 
of George Washington, as General-in-chief of the 

fohn r Han r oT y ' %**' ^ '* *™, and signed b^ 
ration Th' ' S '^ f exhibition wi * the Decla- 
ration. 1 hese precious documents are thoroughly pro- 
tected against injury or loss, by new fire-proof safes 

pSttTf?' 7 f °, ** ™' *> whiIe th S afford 

ntsoer inn I V^' give an opportunity for their 

ron^W 7 Ae th0 , usands of visitors that daily 

throng that ancient and venerable hall. They are to 



6 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

remain here during the season of the centennial exhi- 
bition. 

The numerous pictures suspended upon the walls, 
would at first impress the visitor with the idea that he 
had entered an art gallery, rather than that he was be- 
holding the portraits of the distinguished men, who in 
that very room, acted so conspicuous a part one hundred 
years ago, in rolling back the tide of British aggression, 
securing the Independence of their colonies, and estab- 
lishing the principles of universal liberty for all man- 
kind. Honored be their illustrious names ! Revered 
and cherished their immortal memories ! ! 

The West room has always been occupied by the 
Courts until within a very few years ; it is at present in 
the use of the Committee of Restoration, a committee 
consisting of Col. Frank M. Etting, chairman ; the 
President of Select Council, George Smith, Esq., Pre- 
sident of Common Council, Joseph L. Cavan, Esq., 
Commissioner of City Property, William Dixey, Esq., 
and John L. Shoemaker, Esq., assisted by a committee of 
thirteen ladies, instituted by the City Councils in 1873, 
for the purpose of collecting and restoring to Inde- 
pendence Hall all such relics and articles of interest, 
possessing a revolutionary history as could be procured. 
Through the indefatigable energy and perseverance of 
the committee with Col. Etting at its head, a very large 
and valuable collection of rare and ancient articles of 
that description have been accumulated, and are now 
upon exhibition in this room, prominent among which 
are the portraits of many of the distinguished men of 
the last century, who rendered important services to 
their country in the hour of its greatest trial. But the 
most attractive article of .all is the old "Liberty Bell" 
resting upon the same old, rough and undressed tim- 
bers, that supported it one hundred years ago, when it 
rang out the joyful tidings of the birth of a new gov- 
ernment, a new member in the family of nations, free 
and independent. This collection of revolutionary 
relics is known as the "National Museum" and is -at- 



INDEPENDENCE HALL. 7 

tracting great attention from the visitors now in the 
City, attending the great International Exhibition. 

The second story is approached by a wide open stair- 
way at the southern end of the main entrance hall. 
The Rev. Jacob Duche, he who made the opening prayer 
in the first Continental Congress, that assembled in 
Carpenter's Hall, Sept. 4, 1774, in describing "the 
( State House ' as it is called " in 1771, says, " The up- 
per story consists of a long gallery, which is generally 
used for public entertai?i??ie?its , and two rooms adjoining 
it, one of which is appropriated for the Governor and 
his Council; the other, I believe, is yet unoccupied." 
In the earlier days of Colonial prosperity, when peace 
and harmony characterized the relations between the 
Colonies and the parent Government, before avarice 
and the thirst for power, on the part of the latter be- 
gan to oppress the inhabitants of the American pro- 
vinces, the State House was often the theatre of festive 
scenes, where the generous board, and treacherous 
chalice, invited the epicure, the inebriate, the mode- 
rate and grave to partake of the rich viands and exhil- 
arating draught, upon which occasions our gay an- 
cestors held high carnival in honor of royal officials, 
and other distinguished guests. Soon after the com- 
pletion of the building, in 1735, William Allen, Esq., 
then Mayor of the City, gave here at his own expense, 
a dinner, said to have been the most sumptuous and 
costly, and the most numerously attended, by invited 
citizens and distinguished strangers, of any entertain- 
ment that had previously been held in the city, and the 
praises bestowed upon it for elegance and generous hos- 
pitality were universal. 

When the new Colonial Governor, Capt. Wm. 
Denny, arrived in 1756, during the session of the 
Colonial Assembly, that body gave him a grand recep- 
tion in this room, attended by "the civil and military 
officers and clergy of the city." And in 1757, when 
Lord Loudon, Commander-in-Chief of the King's 
forces in the Colonies, visited the city, the municipal 



8 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

authorities honored him with a grand feast, to which 
were invited officers of distinction, strangers, clergy- 
men, and a large number of citizens. The delegates 
elected to the first Congress, that met in Carpenter's 
Hall in 1774, were also sumptuously provided for by 
the citizens, upon their arrival in the city, and partook 
of a magnificent dinner, spread in this room, in com- 
pany with a large number of invited guests, strangers, 
clergy, officers, etc., amounting to about five hundred 
in number. 

These entertainments were considered beneficial not 
only in a political point of view, but also in promoting 
general confidence and good-fellowship among the 
people. 

Previously to the occupancy of the east room on the 
first floor, by the Continental Congress in 1775, it was 
used for the meetings of the Colonial Assembly. Upon 
its being taken possession of by Congress, the Assem- 
bly removed to the room on the second floor, which 
now ceased to be a mere banqueting-room, and became 
a hall of legislation. The Provincial conference of 108 
members, Thomas McClain President, met in this room 
June 18, 1776. They approved of the action of their 
delegates in Congress, in relation to Independence, so 
far as it had then proceeded, and recommended the 
calling of a Convention to form a State Constitution. 

The Convention for forming the new State Constitu- 
tion assembled here July 15, 1776, Dr. B. Franklin, 
President. The old Provincial Assembly, which had 
legislated for the Colony for nearly one hundred years, 
expired on the 26th of September, 1776. After the 
election of a Legislature, to consist of a Senate and 
House of Representatives, under the new Constitution, 
the Senate held its sessions in this room. 

The American officers captured at the Battles of 
Brandywine (September 11), and Germantown (Octo- 
ber 4, 1777), were retained in this room as prisoners 
of war. 

The National Convention that met to form the 



THE STEEPLE. 9 

United States Constitution, in 1787, assembled in this 
room. 

The State Senate continued to meet here until it was 
removed to Lancaster, in 1799. 

In 1802, Charles Wilson Peale, a painter of some dis- 
tinction, obtained possession of it for the exhibition of 
his large collection of curiosities, known as "Peale's 
Museum." He retained possession of it for twenty- 
years. He was one of the founders of the "Academy 
of Fine Arts," and contributed several pictures of 
merit to that institution. He visited England, and re- 
ceived instructions from Benjamin West in portrait 
painting. He painted a number of the portraits of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence for his mu- 
seum, that now form a part of the collection that adorns 
the walls of the lower east room. 

The next we learn of this large saloon is, that it was 
divided into two rooms and appropriated to the use of 
the United States Courts. 

In 1855, Councils had the partitions forming the 
Court Rooms removed, and two apartments fitted up 
in good style for their own use, which form the Select 
and Common Council Chambers at this time. 

THE STEEPLE. 

At the rear of the main building, attached to the wall 
facing the south, is a brick structure, extending from 
the ground to an altitude far above the level of the roof 
of the hall, which forms a vestibule to its southern en- 
trance. This structure constitutes the base of the 
steeple, and its interior is of sufficient dimensions to 
allow of the ascent of the broad, winding stairway, lead- 
ing to the second story of the hall, as well as to the 
upper apartments of the steeple, and to allow ample 
space for the ingress and egress of visitors, through the 
vestibule besides. At the top of this brick structure 
commences the framework of the steeple, of nearly the 
same dimensions, sufficiently large to admit of being 



IO THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

divided into two or three small rooms, which formerly 
constituted the dwelling of the Bell-ringer and his fami- 
ly. Some years ago, there was quite a lively little sen- 
sation created among the uninitiated through the city, 
by an announcement in the morning papers that a child 
was born in the State house steeple the night before. 
Above this elevated family residence is another apart- 
ment, occupied by the great clock, and the next above 
by the bell, which is about one hundred and forty feet 
above the surface of the ground, and which is much 
contracted in comparison with the apartments below. 
It has open out-looks, affording a grand opportunity for 
observing the outspreading city below, the winding 
courses of the two rivers for a great distance, and the 
varied and undulatory appearance of the country, and 
points of interest for many miles around, forming, in 
the whole, one of the grandest and most picturesque 
landscapes the eye could rest upon. Shooting up from 
the belfry is the spire, twenty feet, making the entire 
height one hundred and sixty feet, exclusive of the 
spindle, bearing the ball, vane, etc. 

The original steeple, as it was seen prior to 1778, 
was but one hundred and fifty feet high. On account 
of the decayed state of a portion of the timbers, it was 
taken down in this year, until but ninety-six feet of it 
was left standing ; this was surmounted by a small bel- 
fry, to protect the bell ; the clock, which presented but 
one dial-face, was at the west end of the building.* In 
1828, the steeple was re-erected. In reconstructing it, 
care was taken to preserve the original plan, and its 
ancient appearance, as far as possible. 

At the present time workmen are engaged in strength- 
ening the structure, preparatory to the reception of the 
new clock and bell, presented to the city by Mr. Henry 
Seybert, a wealthy and benevolent citizen. Heavy 
iron rods are being put through the brick work at the 

* There is considerable discrepancy in regard to the date of this 
event. Some writers put it at 1 774, and others, which we think 
more correct, at 1778, and others at 1781. 



THE STATE HOUSE BELLS AND CLOCKS. II 

base of the wooden structure, to prevent spreading, and 
heavier timbers are being substituted for the present 
supports of the bell and clock floors. 

It is expected this magnificent present of Mr. Sey- 
bert's will be placed in the steeple during the present 
summer. 

A fine old clock, which stood in the steeple, which 
was constructed and used as a regulator for the large 
clock, has been cleaned and repaired, and now stands 
in the office of the Commissioner of City Property. It 
is a fine piece of workmanship, and has a dial with 
twenty-four divisions, the hour hand making one revo- 
lution in twenty-four hours. 

There is also, in one of the old rooms of the steeple, 
what remains of the transit instrument used by Prof. 
Rittenhouse in 1769, to observe the transit of Venus. 
The observation was a failure on account of the weather 
being cloudy. 

THE STATE HOUSE BELLS AND CLOCKS. 

Soon after the completion of the State House, in 
1734, the subject of procuring a suitable bell for the 
steeple, began to be agitated by the good people of Phil- 
adelphia. Some careful, economical citizens opposed 
the measure as unnecessary, and one involving a useless 
and extravagant expenditure of money. 

After discussion and agitation for a number of years, 
a more liberal policy prevailed, and the vexed question 
was decided in favor of the procurement of the bell. The 
Colonies not being prepared to do the work, the peo- 
ple were dependent upon the skill and labor of Eng- 
land to furnish the desired article. In the latter part 
of the year 1750, the order for, and a full description 
of the proposed bell were sent to London, and in 1752 
it was landed in Philadelphia. Its arrival is represented 
as creating considerable excitement, and many citizens 
visited the vessel to examine the long coveted object, 
and congratulate each other and the city on its success- 
ful and safe passage across the ocean. During its transit 



12 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

from the vessel to the steeple it met with an accident 
that rendered its ringing qualities so imperfect as to 
create universal dissatisfaction and disappointment. It 
was the opinion of some, at the time, that the crack 
occurred in the first attempt at ringing, while others 
averred that it resulted from carelessness and rough 
handling during its removal. It was of but little conse- 
quence how or when the accident occurred, the result 
was, that the project was a great failure, as the bell 
proved to be good for nothing. 

"THE LIBERTY BELL." 




A proposition to have the bell recast in Philadelphia, 
under the direction of Isaac Norris, Esq., then Speaker of 
the Assembly, was accepted by the firm of Pass & Stow, 
who after several attempts, succeeded in 1753 in produ- 
cing, accordingto Mr. Norris' declaration "agoodbell." 
Its weight was 2030 pounds. It was at the instance of Mr. 
Norris, that this new bell was made to bear the beautiful 
motto: " Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land, to all 
the inhabitants thereof," which proved to be signally 
prophetic, for in less than a quarter of a century after, at 
the reading of the Declaration of Independence in the 
State House Yard, on Monday, July 8th, 1776, at 12 
o'clock, to the populace, it proclaimed the glad tidings 
of the birth of a new nation, free and independent. 
From this day it received the distinctive title of the 



THE LIBERTY BELL. 1 3 

" Liberty Bell," at the sound of which, the fires of li- 
berty were kindled, and orators became eloquent. Its 
glory has been chanted in song, and its praises rehearsed 
in story until " Liberty Bell " have become household 
words in every family, and a theme of veneration on 
freedom's altar everywhere. There is a legend that the 
bell was rung immediately after the adoption of the 
Declaration on the 4th of July, 1776, but there appears 
to be no authentic evidence that such was the fact, nor 
that there were any demonstrations of general rejoicing 
on the evening of that day. But on the contrary the 
people were too solemnly impressed with the weight and 
magnitude of the occasion to give way to hilarity and 
mirthful enjoyments. Some are represented to have been 
jubilant and confident of ultimate success, others more 
sedate and thoughtful, weighing the matter more ear- 
nestly, and prepared to wait for future development, 
and others timorous and trepid, fearing the step had 
been prematurely taken, and that troubles more serious 
than any they had yet encountered might be the result. 
While the royalists (tories) were outspoken in their 
antagonism to the measure, and vehement in their de- 
nunciations of the high treason that had been perpe- 
trated against the parent government, in fact the peo- 
ple were more content to remain in the quiet contem- 
plation of the great event of the day than to partici- 
pate in any noisy expressions or manifestations of de- 
light at the consummation of the great act. And the 
bell was allowed to remain silent. But after a few days' 
consideration, and a public proclamation of their de- 
clared rights, they began to realize the change in their 
civil and political relations, their transition from vas- 
sals to freemen, from dependence to independence, 
from serfs to sovereigns, and they all united, the coura- 
geous, the timid and the trembling, as one man to 
sustain the glorious document that made them free. 
On that evening, July 8th, the old bell struck for Lib- 
erty, and the masses took up the signal. ^Bonfires were 
kindled, and the King's Arms were torn down from 



14 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

over the State House door, and consigned to the 
flames, cannons were fired, parades with music crowded 
the streets, and general manifestations of patriotic ar- 
dor prevailed throughout the city. 

The following scrap of fancy literature, which has 
found its way into some of the popular magazines and 
school-books of the country, is educating the people in 
an error, both historical and sentimental. Were we to 
transfer the scene from the adoption of the Declaration 
in Independence Hall on the evening of July 4th to 
the reading of the same, in the State House Yard, July 
8th, at noon, and let the old bell ringer 140 feet up 
in the belfry, be too far off to hear the closing words 
of the reading, and have the boy trained to give the 
signal when to ring, at the close, we would have a pic- 
ture representing more truly the actual state of the 
case, at the time than the one presented below. L. 

INDEPENDENCE BELL. 

"When it was certain that the ' Declaration ' would 
be adopted and confirmed by the signatures of the dele- 
gates in Congress, it was determined to announce the 
event by ringing the State House Bell, which bore the 
inscription, ' Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, 
to all the inhabitants thereof!' and the old bell-man 
posted his little boy at the door of the hall to await the 
instruction of the door-keeper when to ring. At the 
word, the little patriot scion rushed out, and flinging 
up his hands, shouted,- ' Ring ! Ring ! ! Ring ! ! V 

1. There was tumult in the city, 

In the quaint old Quaker town, 
And the streets were rife with people 

Pacing restless up and down ; 
People gathering at corners, 

Where they whispered each to each, 
And the sweat stood on their temples, 

With the earnestness of speech. 

2. As the bleak Atlantic currents 

Lash the wild Newfoundland shore, 



> > > 



INDEPENDENCE BELL. j? 

So they beat against the State-House, 

So they surged against the door; 
And the mingling of their voices 

Made a harmony profound, 
Till the quiet street of Chestnuts 

Was all turbulent with sound. 

3. " Will they do it ?" « Dare they do it?" 

" Who is speaking?" « What's the news ?" 
" What of Adams ?" " What of Sherman ?" 

" O, God grant they won't refuse !" 
" Make some way, there !" « Let me nearer !" 

'* I am stifling I" " Stifle, then j 
When a nation's life's at hazard, 

We've no time to think of men !" 

4. So they beat against the portal — 

Man and woman, maid and child ; 
And the July sun in heaven 

On the scene looked down and smiled j 
The same sun that saw the Spartan 

Shed his patriot blood in vain, 
Now beheld the soul of freedom 

All unconquered rise again. 
* * * * * 

5. Aloft in that high steeple 

Sat the bell-man, old and gray ; 
He was weary of the tyrant 

And his iron-sceptred sway; 
So he sat with one hand ready 

On the clapper of the bell, 
When his eye should catch the signal, 

Very happy news to tell. 

6. See ! see ! the dense crowd quivers 

Through all its lengthy line, 
As the boy beside the portal 

Looks forth to give the sign ! 
With his small hands upward lifted 

Breezes dallying with his hair, 
Hark ! with deep, clear intonation, 

Breaks his young voice on the air. 

7. Hushed the people's swelling murmur, 

List the boy's strong joyous cry I 



1 6 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

" Ring !" he shouts aloud ; " Ring, Grandpa ! 

Ring ! 0, Ring for Liberty I" 
And straightway, at the signal, 

The bell-man lifts his hand, 
And sends the good news, making 

Iron music through the land. 

8. How they shouted ! What rejoicing! 

How the old bell shook the air, 
Till the clang of freedom ruffled 

The calm, gliding Delaware! 
How the bonfires and the torches 

Illumed the night's repose, 
And from the flames, like Phoenix, 

Fair Liberty arose ! 

9. The old bell now is silent, 

And hushed its iron tongue, 
But the spirit it awakened 

Still lives — forever young. 
And while we greet the sunlight 

On the Fourth of each July, 
"We'll ne'er forget the bell-man, 

Who, 'twixt the earth and sky, 
Rang out Our Independence ! 

Which, please God, shall never die ! K. 

"The Liberty Bell," that sturdy old sentinel on the 
watch-tower of freedom, for fourscore years and more, 
guarded the interests of Philadelphia with all the fidelity 
of a most faithful and trusted servant, marking every 
hour "in time's rapid flight," sounding the alarm at 
the approach of danger, cheerily breaking the morning 
slumber, and calling the people forth to activity and 
life, on festive days, and tolling mournfully in times of 
general sorrow. 

In 1777, when the capture of the city was threatened 
by the near approach of the British Army, this bell and 
that of Christ Church were removed to the Delaware 
river, near Trenton, and there submerged, to prevent 
their falling into the hands of the enemy. In this situa- 
tion they were permitted to remain until the close of 
the war, when they were returned to the city and re- 
stored to their former position. 



THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 



17 



111 1835, while ringing for the funeral of Chief Justice 
Marshall, it received a fracture, which silenced its voice 
forever. It now occupies a prominent place in the 
National Museum, in Independence Hall, where it is 
preserved as a relic of great value. 

THE ORIGINAL CLOCK. 

The original clock, which was put upon the western 
end of the building about the year 1750, was removed 
and placed in the spire of St. Augustine's Church, at 
Fourth and Vine, and was destroyed with the church 
on the evening of May 8th, 1844, when that edifice 
was burned by the mob. 

A NEW CLOCK AND BELL. 

When the wood-work of the present steeple was put 
up in 1828, provision was made for the removal of the 
clock-face from the west end of the building to the 
steeple. The new clock and bell were put in the same 
year (1828). This bell, a distinct and different one 
from the liberty-bell, and which succeeded it after its 
fracture, was cast by John Wilbank of this city, and 
the clock was made by Isaiah Lukins. The weight of 
the bell is about four thousand pounds. 

THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

The Wilbank Bell, placed in position in 1828, was 
the immediate successor of the old Herald of Liberty, 
that proclaimed Independence in July, 1776. It was 
ordered by the Mayor to be rung for half-an-hour at 
Sunrise, Noon, and at Sundown, on May 10th, 1876, 
the day of opening of the great Centennial International 
Exposition, instituted in commemoration of the event 
that gave the nation birth a century ago. This order 
was significant of the occurrences of the three grand 
divisions of the century, to which these proceedings 
have reference, and most emphatically entitle it to the 
appellation of "The Centennial Liberty Bell." The 



1 8 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

" Old Liberty Bell " proclaimed " Liberty throughout 
all the land to all the Inhabitants thereof;" but the 
proclamation failed to reach, and brought no cheer to 
the toiling slave. This Bell caught up the sound, and 
rolled back the echo, through the vista of a hundred 
years, carrying the boon of Liberty, the meed of re- 
joicing, to the heart of every man, rich or poor, black 
or white, foreign or native. The morning ringing, 
amid darkness and gloom, lowering clouds and falling 
rain, was indicative of the morning of the century, when 
Liberty struggled for utterance on the floor of Congress, 
and was crushed outside by the tyranny of George the 
Third. When hope and courage, mingled with doubt 
and despair, caused the stoutest heart to sicken at the 
gloominess of the prospect. Though opposed by mighty 
odds, endurance, bravery and perseverance at last broke 
the oppressor's wand, the oppressed took courage, and 
pushed hard the conflict, until the wavering ranks of 
the enemy began to yield, and the sun of prosperity to 
illumine their pathway to success and ultimate triumph. 
The conflict is over, the victory won, the oppressor 
vanquished, Liberty in the ascendant, Peace declared. 

The people of the distracted Colonies now busied 
themselves in establishing State Governments. A Na- 
tional Government was instituted. Agriculture, com- 
merce and the arts and sciences were cultivated, and the 
domain of the Government extended. Public hygiene 
and internal improvements were advanced. Ten new 
members had been added to the family of States, and 
the noon-sun of the century cast its rays on a highly 
prosperous and happy nation. So with the day in 
question ; the rains ceased to fall, the dullness passed 
away, the clouds were dissipated, and the Bell at noon 
rang out its merry peals beneath a cloudless sky and 
unobstructed sunlight. The disappointments of the 
morning vanished with the vanishing clouds ; the peo- 
ple, catching up the inspiration of the hour and occa- 
sion, were jubilant and happy. 

But the day was not permitted to continue fair and 



THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 



19 



bright until its close; the clouds again gathered, the 
rain descended, and gloom and disappointment marred 
the pleasures of the occasion. So with the century to- 
wards its eve — a dark cloud gathered in the South — 
the rumblings of intestine commotion were heard from 
a distance. Liberty was driven from the realm and her 
name dishonored; the National Flag was discarded, 
and a bastard rag substituted in its place; all the 
Southern States seceded from the Union and set up a Con- 
federation of their own. High treason stalked through 
all the rebellious States at noon-day, uttering threats 
and imprecations against the life of the Nation. The 
hardy men of the North rallied under the old Stars and 
Stripes, and in the name of Liberty and the Union gave 
battle for the right. The strife was fierce and san- 
guinary. Thousands upon thousands of brave Ameri- 
cans gave their lives to their country, and millions upon 
millions were spent in its defense. At length the tide 
of battle turned in favor of the Union, and the haughty 
rebel was humbled in the dust. The Confederacy was 
broken up, and the old flag again waved over every 
State. The work of reconstruction and restoration 
placed the rebellious region again under the dominion 
of the General Government. And Liberty swayed her 
golden sceptre over three millions of slaves, raised to 
the dignity of freemen and vested with all the rights 
and franchises of citizenship. And after the storm, the 
setting sun of the century sent its departing rays over a 
united and prosperous country. The afternoon clouds 
of the opening day dispersed, and the ringing of the 
evening bell was cheered by the unclouded brilliancy 
of the setting sun. 

This day the bell thrice gave warning of the near ap- 
proach of the closing hours of the first century of 
American Independence. And on this, the eve of the 
Centennial day of the Nation's great rejoicing, in con- 
templating the past, the mind instinctively reverts to 
the days "along time ago" when the British Lion, 
England's cherished emblem of majesty, strength and 



20 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

power, was driven from our shores, while yet in the 
feebleness of our veriest infancy. We see him now 
in the distance, as he surveys the vastness of our do- 
main, scrutinizes the citadels of our strength, and com- 
putes the immensity and invincibility of our power, lash- 
ing his sides with his huge tail, and shaking his mane 
with rage, and with a roar that shakes the earth, we 
hear him exclaim, "It is enough !" He retires to his 
lair, a hundred years older, and for taking the observa- 
tion, a hundred years wiser. 

Next our National bird, the American Eagle, perched 
upon the topmost bough of the tallest oak, from which 
he beholds the entire globe girdled with a belt of wires, 
over which pass human thoughts, wishes, desires, from 
city to city, country to country, and continent to con- 
tinent, with lightning speed — an American invention. 
He observes spread all over the surface of our and other 
continents a net-work of iron highways, upon which 
are coaches loaded with human beings, and other ve- 
hicles of transportation freighted with the commerce of 
the world, rushing with the velocity of the wind, and 
depositing at every point their passengers and freight. 
He sees the steamships spreading their sails on all our 
mighty rivers and every ocean, promoters of civilization 
in times of peace, and peacemakers in times of war — 
all the result of American genius. 

He sees in every city, town and hamlet, temples dedi- 
cated to science and learning, sending their tall spires 
heavenward, and applauds our American system of uni- 
versal education. Though he saddens at the mockery 
of our boasted free religion, he stretches his neck to its 
utmost extent, and opening his capacious throat, utters 
a scream that rends the air, "It is mine, all mine!" 
And spreading his broad wings soars away to his retreat 
in the cliffs of time, to watch the progress and guide 
the destinies of his great protege for another century. 

The dazzling Goddess of Liberty, with her counte- 
nance all radiant with happiness, rejoices as she beholds 
the millions of her votaries bearing the ensign of loy- 



THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 21 

alty in one hand and the ballot in the other, all clothed 
in the panoply of manhood ; a tear trickles down her 
beautiful cheek as she casts her sorrowing eyes upon 
woman, and sees her bondage, and raising the signal 
for more work, she departs ; and the Nation resolves, 
that before the opening day of the next Centennial Ju- 
bilee, the triumph of liberty shall be complete and suf- 
frage universal. 

THE REMOVAL OF THE BELL AND CLOCK. 

The last time the voice of this bell was heard in 
Philadelphia, was the evening ringing, on May ioth, 
1876, at sundown, in honor of the opening of the great- 
est exhibition of the products of human ingenuity, the 
soil, and mine, that the world has ever beheld. The 
occasion was the most important one that ever called 
forth the sound of a. bell during the last century, or 
perhaps in the history of the world, save the closing act 
of the initiatory ceremonies instituting the new Gov- 
ernment, the greatest and mightiest of earth, in July, 
1776. 

A few days after performing this, its last, grandest 
service, in honor of the most memorable event known 
to the history of mankind, commemorative of the 
world's crowning glory — The Birth of the American 
Nation — this bell, which has been in position since 
1828, was lowered from the steeple into the lower hall, 
and placed in the corner of the vestibule recently occu- 
pied by its "illustrious predecessor," the Liberty Bell, 
where it will remain until some action is taken in refer- 
ence to it by Councils. It is in as good condition as 
when first put in use. Its future employment is wholly 
problematical. 

THE NEW SEYBERT BELL AND CLOCK FOR INDEPENDENCE 
HALL. 

The present removal of the Bell and Clock is to give 
place to the new ones presented by Mr. Seybert, for 



2 2 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

which it is contemplated to have everything in readi- 
ness by the 4th of July, when, at noon, there will be a 
peal of thirteen strokes, one for each of the original 
States in the Union. The bell is composed of a mix- 
ture of 80 per cent, of copper, and 20 per cent, of tin. 
It has metal in it from cannon used in the revolutionary 
war by the British and Americans at the battle of Sara- 
toga, and from cannon used both by the Northern and 
Southern armies at the battle of Gettysburg. The bell 
is seven feet high, measures 23)^ feet around the lip, 
and weighs 13,000 pounds. The clapper is nickel 
plated and burnished, weighing 300 pounds. The 
hammer, which will strike the bell, weighs two hundred 
pounds. The bell was manufactured by Meneely & 
Co., of Troy, N. Y. The clock was manufactured by 
the Seth Thomas Clock Company of Thomaston, Conn. 
The dial plates are nine feet in diameter, being two 
feet larger than those on the present clock, and the 
clock will run for eight days without stopping. The 
pendulum rod carries a cast iron ball of 500 pounds, 
the rod and ball weighing together 700 pounds. From 
its composition, "The Seybert Union Bell" would be 
an appropriate title for it. 

June 14, 1876. — The new bell to be placed in the 
State House steeple, and which is described above, 
was delivered yesterday. It was conveyed to the front 
of Independence Hall swinging from a large catama- 
ran, drawn by nine horses, and attracted great atten- 
tion. It was placed upon a wooden platform, which 
was then, by the use of a screw-jack, raised to a height 
sufficient to permit heavy broad planks and rollers to 
be placed beneath it, and then, by the use of levers, 
rollers, etc., it was slowly forced along until near the 
statue of Washington, where it was permitted to remain 
for the night. The clock has been put up in the steeple, 
and the dials are in position, the last touches being 
given to them yesterday. The bell was raised to its 
position in the steeple, as soon as the necessary prepa- 
rations were completed; and when put to trial its 



THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 2 % 

sound was found to be so defective that Mr. Seybert 
the donor, has determined to have it taken down and 
recast. Its cost was $5,000. 

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 

Immediately in front of Independence Hall stands a 
beautiful statue of the Father of his Country. It is of 
fine white marble, and about eight feet in height. The 
pedestal upon which it stands is of granite, and about 
twelve feet in height, making the whole figure about 
twenty feet. The pedestal bears the following inscrip- 
tion : l 

ERECTED 

BY THE 

WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION 

OF THE 

FIRST SCHOOL DISTRICT 

OF 

PENNSYLVANIA, 
JULY 4, 1S69. 

The statue was unveiled July 5. 



MEETINGS OF THE EARLY CONGRESS AND THE INAUGU- 
RATION OF THE FIRST TWO PRESIDENTS. 

The first Colonial Congress, called the Stamp Act 
Congress, met at New York, 1765. 

The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's 
Hall, Philadelphia, in 1774. Eleven Colonies only 
were represented, North Carolina and Georgia, failing 
to send delegates. 

Second Continental Congress, met in the State 
House, Philadelphia, 1775. 

Congress adjourned to Lancaster in 1777, and in 
three days adjourned to York, Pa., and remained there 
nine months. 



24 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

FIRST CONGRESS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. 

The first Congress under the Constitution, consisting 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, from 
March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1791, held its first two ses- 
sions in New York, and a third one in Philadelphia, in 
the building at the Southeast corner of Sixth and Chest- 
nut streets, known as " Old Congress Hall," and now 
occupied by the Highway Department and the City 
Courts. It continued to meet here until it was removed 
to Washington, D. C, in the year 1800. 

George Washington was inaugurated President of the 
United States, first term, in New York, April 30, 1 789. 
He was inaugurated, the second term, in Philadelphia, 
March 4, 1793, in the building occupied by Congress. 

John Adams was also inaugurated President in the 
same building, March 4, 1797. All the subsequent 
Presidents were inaugurated in Washington, D. C. 

L. 



HISTORICAL EVENTS OF 1776. 



CANNONADING AND BURNING OF THE CITY OF NORFOLK, 
VIRGINIA, BY LORD DUNMORE, THE ROYAL GOV- 
ERNOR OF THE PROVINCE, JANUARY I, 1 776. 

This year, the most eventful in the history of 
America, opened on the inhabitants of Norfolk, with 
terror, dismay, and despair. The first day of the new 
year, was one of sadness and gloom, instead of festivity 
and joy. 

They witnessed an array of British war vessels abreast 
of their town, with active preparations for a most de- 
structive and desolating cannonading. 

About four o'clock, P. M., the firing commenced, 
and sixty pieces of artillery sent forth their missiles of 
death and destruction from four men-of-war. Not sat- 
isfied with this demonstration of civilized and Christian 
barbarity — inflicted upon defenceless women and child- 
ren ; as night approached the Governor ordered the 
warehouses on the wharfs, to be fired, and a large mer- 
chant vessel, which occupied the dock, to be burnt. 
The unemployed portion of the fleet, moored in the 
harbor, now furnished men and boats, in large numbers, 
to come ashore and aid in extending the fire in every 
direction along the river. The light material of which 
the houses were mainly constructed, and the wind, 
added to the rapidity of the extension of the flames, 
rendering the scene truly appalling to even the stoutest 
hearts. 

Women with their infants in their arms, as well as 
others, were seen, by the light of the conflagration, 
running to and fro, seeking refuge from the range of the 
cannon balls. 

The attempts of the British to land with their cannon 
were repeatedly defeated by the spunk and resistance 
3 25 



26 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

of the patriots. It was long after midnight before the 
merciless enginery of destruction was wholly silenced. 
The fire continued to rage for seventy-two hours, until 
nearly the whole of the town was reduced to ashes, or 
left piles of smouldering ruins. 

The old dominion derived no immunity from her 
past loyalty to the British Crown. No consideration 
for being the favorite colony of Elizabeth, who stamped 
upon its name the insignia of her own purity. No par- 
don for being the product of Raleigh's enterprise and 
fortune, or for the high regards of Shakespeare, Bacon 
and Herbert. No favors for having voluntarily estab- 
lished the Church of England — and prided themselves, 
on their ancestral fidelity to the line of British Kings. 
Thus the Colonial Governor, the Agent of the English 
ministry, the representative of the regal power of Great 
Britain, destroyed and desolated her fairest town, the 
seat of her commerce, religion and wealth. 

When the Commander-in-Chief heard of this desola- 
tion of the proud metropolis of his beloved Colony — the 
mingled emotions of rage and grief agitated his whole 
frame, and with emphasis and feeling he exclaimed, " I 
hope this and the threatened devastations of other 
places will unite the whole country in one indissoluble 
band against a nation, which seems lost to every sense 
of virtue and those feelings which distinguish a civil- 
ized people from the most barbarous savages." L. 

THE FLAG. 

On the first day of January, 1776, the same day that 
Norfolk was in sadness, in tears, and in ashes, the 
American Flag, with its thirteen stripes of red and 
white, was thrown to the breeze over the Continental 
Army at Boston. The blue field, instead of bearing 
the stars, the pride of every American citizen, now pre- 
sented the commingled crosses of St. George and St. 
Andrew, in red and white. The army at this time was 
only distinguished by its extreme feebleness, its brave- 



HISTORICAL EVENTS OF 1 776. 27 

ry and endurance. Its roll numbered, but nine thou- 
sand, six hundred and fifty men, all told. At that time 
the free colored man, stood side by side and shoulder 
to shoulder with his white co-patriot, battling in a com- 
mon cause for the common rights of all. L. 



THE KING S SPEECH. 

The King's speech to parliament delivered in No- 
vember, reached the Continental Congress in Philadel- 
phia in the beginning of this year. Washington, thence- 
forward freely expressed the opinion, that a declaration 
of Independence was inevitable, and his comrades in 
arms, as well as others, were solemnly impressed with 
the same sentiment. General Greene in a letter to Mr. 
Ward, then a delegate to the Continental Congress, from 
Rhode Island, says, "The interests of mankind hang 
upon that body of which you are a member : you stand 
the representative not of America only, but of the 
friends of liberty and the supporters of the rights of 
human nature in the whole world ; permit me from the 
sincerity of my heart, ready at all times to bleed in my 
country's cause, to recommend a Declaration of In- 
dependence, and call upon the world and the great 
God who governs it, to witness the necessity, propriety 
and rectitude thereof." "The king," he said further, 
"breathes revenge, and threatens us with destruction ; 
America must raise an empire of permanent duration, 
supported upon the grand pillars of truth, freedom, 
and religion." 

The sentiment in favor of independence was becom- 
ing more and more general, sometimes manifesting it- 
self in loud expressions, but more generally affording 
food for silent meditation. The old sentiment, "Eng- 
land, with all thy faults, I love thee still," seemed to be 
in the ascendant, and to exert a controlling influence 
on many minds, until the royal proclamation pro- 
nounced them rebels. This created a new incentive for 
thought and action ; new ideas were evolved, and old 



28 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

affections were subdued ; the commotion became gen- 
eral, the forum and the press were invoked to give ut- 
terance to the new convictions. 

A leader to concentrate, control and direct the spirit 
of independence, which, for the want of system, was 
distracting the public mind, became a necessity to act 
the part in the domain of thought, that Washington 
was acting in the field of battle, Morris in the depart- 
ment of finance, and Franklin in the world of negotia- 
tions. The man who entered the arena pen in hand, 
and most effectually accomplished this work, was 

THOMAS PAINE, 

an Englishman by birth, a Quaker by education, aged 
about forty years, and an inhabitant of America a 
little over a year. He was by nature and education 
fitted for the task he assumed ; an ardent lover of 
liberty, trained in the school of equal rights, insti- 
tuted by George Fox and his followers, bold and in- 
trepid in thought, simple, clear and fearless in his ex- 
pressions, scathing in his sarcasms, and terrible in his 
denunciations, he was emphatically the man for the 
times. A compeer of Franklin, Rittenhouse, Clymer, 
Samuel Adams, Benjamin Rush and men of that class, 
his influence among the patriots was as great, as his ge- 
nius and power of argument were subduing and con- 
vincing to the royalists. His first work was to prepare 
an essay on the existing relations between the Colonies 
and the mother country ; and when it was completed 
he submitted it to the gentlemen above mentioned, and 
asked them what title he should give it ! Rush replied 
call it 

"common sense." 

In order that the reader may form a correct idea of 
the character of the pamphlet, we present a few ex- 
tracts from it, as a part of the history of the country 
one hundred years ago. L. 

"The design and end of government is freedom and security. 



EXTRACTS. 



20 



In the early ages of the world, mankind were equals in the order of 
creation ; the heathen introduced government by kings, which the 
will of the Almighty, as declared by Gideon and the prophet Sa- 
muel, expressly disapproved. To the evil of monarchy we have 
added that of hereditary succession ; and as the first is a lessening 
of ourselves, so the second might put posterity under the govern- 
ment of a rogue or a fool. Nature disapproves it, otherwise she 
would not so frequently turn it into ridicule. 

ENGLAND, 

vSince the conquest, hath known some few good monarchs, but 
groaned beneath a much larger number of bad ones. 

" The most plausible plea, which has ever been offered in favor 
of hereditary succession is, that it preserves a nation from civil 
wars; whereas the whole history of England disowns the fact. 

THIRTY KINGS 

And two minors have reigned in that distracted kingdom since the 
conquest, in which time there have been no less than eight civil 
wars and nineteen rebellions. In short, monarchy and succession 
have laid not this kingdom only, but the world in blood and ashes. 
'' The nearer any government approaches to a Republic, the less 
business there is for a king ; in England a king hath little more to 
do than to make war and give away places. 

"VOLUMES HAVE BEEN WRITTEN 

On the struggle between England and America, but the period of 
debate is closed. Arms must decide the contest ; the appeal was 
the choice of the king, and the continent hath accepted the chal- 
lenge. 

"THE SUN NEVER SHONE 

On a cause of greater worth. 'Tis not the affair of a city, a coun- 
try, a province, or a kingdom, but of a continent, of at least one- 
eighth part of the habitable globe. 'Tis not the concern of a day, 
a year, or an age ; posterity are virtually involved in it even to the 
end of time. 

" BUT GREAT BRITAIN 

Has protected us, say some. She did not protect us from our ene- 
mies on our account, but from her enemies on her own account, 
America would have nourished as much, and probably more, had 
no European power had anything to do with governing her. France 
and Spain never were, nor perhaps ever will be, our enemies as 
Americans, but as subjects of Great Britain. 

" BRITAIN 

Is the parent country, say some ; then the more shame upon her 
conduct. 

3* 



3<D THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

BUT EUROPE, 

and not England, is the parent country of America : this new world 
hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and reli- 
gious liberty from every part of Europe; we claim brotherhood with 
every European Christian, and triumph in the generosity of the sen- 
timent. Not one-third of the inhabitants, even of this province, 
are of English descent. The phrase of parent or mother country 
applied to 

ENGLAND ONLY, 

is false, selfish, narrow and ungenerous ; but admitting that we were 
all of English descent, Britain, being now an open enemy, extin- 
guishes every other name. 

" MUCH HATH BEEN 

said of the united strength of Britain and the Colonies, that in con- 
junction they might bid defiance to the world. What have we to do 
with setting the world at defiance ? Our plan is commerce, and that, 
well attended to, will secure us the friendship of all Europe. 

I CHALLENGE 

the warmest advocates for reconciliation to show a single advantage 
that this continent can reap by being connected with Great Britain. 
" As Europe is our market for trade, we ought to form no partial 
connection with any part of it. It is the true interest of America to 
steer clear of European contentions, which she can never do, while 
by her dependence on Britain she is the make-weight in the scale of 
British politics. 

"every thing 

that is right or natural pleads for separation. Even the distance at 
which the Almighty hath placed England and America, is a strong 
and natural proof, that the authority of the one over the other was 
never the design of heaven. It is not in the power of Britain or of 
Europe to conquer America if she does not conquer herself by de- 
lay and timidity. 

"IT IS REPUGNANT 

to reason and the universal order of things, to all examples from 
former ages, to suppose that this continent can long remain subject to 
any external power. The most sanguine in Britain do not think so. 
The authority of Great Britain, sooner or later, must have an end ; 
and the event cannot be far off. The business of this continent, from 
its rapid progress to maturity, will soon be too weighty and intricate 
to be managed with any tolerable degree of convenience by a power 
so distant from us, and so very ignorant of us. There is something 



EXTRACTS. 31 

absurd in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an 
island : in no instance hath nature made the satellite larger than 
the primary planet. They belong to different systems ; 

ENGLAND TO EUROPE, AMERICA TO ITSELF. 

Every thing short of independence is leaving the sword to our 
children, and shrinking back at a time, when going a little further 
would render this continent the glory of the earth. Admitting that 
matters were now made up, 

THE KING 

will have a negative over the whole legislation of this continent. 
And he will suffer no law to be made here but such as suits his 
purpose. We may be as effectually enslaved by the want of laws 
in America, as by submitting to laws made for us in England. 

" RECONCILIATION 

and ruin are nearly related. The best terms which we can expect 
to obtain can amount to no more than a guardianship, which can 
last no longer than till the Colonies come of age. Emigrants of 
property will not come to a country whose form of government 
hangs but by a thread. Nothing but a continental form of govern- 
ment can keep the peace of the continent inviolate from civil wars. 

" THE COLONIES 

have manifested such a spirit of good order and obedience to con- 
tinental government, as is sufficient to make every reasonable per- 
son easy and happy on that head ; if there is any true cause of fear 
respecting independence, it is because no plan is yet laid down. 
Let a continental conference be held, to frame a continental char- 
ter, or charter of the United Colonies. But where, say some, is 

THE KING OF AMERICA? 

He reigns above; in America the law is king; in free countries 
there ought to be no other. " All men, whether in England or 
America, confess that a separation between the countries will take 
place one time or other. To find out the very time, we need not 
go far, for the time hath found us. 

THE PRESENT, 

likewise, is that peculiar time which never happens to a nation but 
once, the time of forming itself into a government. Until we con- 
sent that the seat of government in America be legally and author- 
itatively occupied, where will be our freedom ? where our prop- 
erty? 



32 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

Nothing can settle our affairs so expeditiously as an open and 
determined declaration for independence. It is unreasonable to sup- 
pose that France or Spain will give us assistance, if we mean only to 
use that assistance for the purpose of repairing the breach. While 
we profess ourselves the subjects of Britain, we must in the eyes of 
foreign nations be considered as rebels. 

A MANIFESTO 

published and dispatched to foreign courts, setting forth the mise- 
ries we have endured, and declaring that we had been driven to the 
necessity of breaking off all connection with her, at the same time 
assuring all such courts of our desire of entering into trade with 
them, would produce more good effects to this continent, than if a 
ship were freighted with petitions to Britain. 

" EVERY QUIET METHOD 

for peace hath been ineffectual; our prayers have been rejected 
with disdain ; reconciliation is now a fallacious dream. Bring the 
doctrine of reconciliation to the touch-stone of nature ; can you 
hereafter, love, honor, and faithfully serve the power that hath car- 
ried fire and sword into your land ? Ye that tell us of harmony, 
can ye restore to us the time that is past ? The blood of the slain, 
the weeping voice of nature cries, 'tis time to part. The last chord 
is now broken ; the people of England are presenting addresses 
against us. 

" A GOVERNMENT 

of our own is our natural right. Ye that love mankind, that dare 
oppose not only tyranny, but the tyrant,- stand forth ! Every spot 
of the old world is overrun with oppression ; Freedom hath been 
hunted round the globe ; Europe regards her like a stranger; and 
England hath given her warning to depart ; O ! RECEIVE THE FUGI- 
TIVE and prepare an asylum for mankind." K. 

Paine was editor of the "Pennsylvania Magazine." 
He was author of various other political papers which 
exerted a powerful influence in forwarding the cause of 
independence. The " Crisis," a periodical which ap- 
peared at irregular intervals, he published in 1776-77, 
to counteract the general depression of spirits which 
prevailed at that time. In the " Crisis " first appeared 
the phrase " These are times that try men's souls." 

" Common Sense " appeared on the eighth of January. 
On the same day, the royal proclamation was received 
in Congress, and the day previous, the news of the dis- 



THE KING'S SPEECH. 33 

aster at Norfolk arrived. It was read in Congress, 
read in the army, in private houses, workshops, from 
pulpits, stores, taverns, read everywhere, and with 
an effect to render the king's manifesto nugatory, and 
to fire the people with indignation, and arouse the 
spirit of retaliation for the outrages inflicted upon the 
town of Norfolk. 

Upon the king's speech being read in Congress 
Samuel Adams arose and exclaimed " The Tyrant /" 
" His speech breathes the most malevolent spirit, and 
determines my opinion of its author as a man of a 
wicked heart. I have heard that he is his own minister. 
Why, then should we cast the odium of distressing man- 
kind upon his minions? Guilt must lie at his door: di- 
vine vengeance will fall on his head," and the staunch 
old patriot, indignant at the imputation of being a 
rebel, calling to his support Mr. Wythe of Virginia, 
the twain commenced at once instituting strong efforts 
in the direction of a confederation of the thirteen Colo- 
nies, and independence from British rule. Alarmed at 
the rapid change in the popular mind in favor of inde- 
pendence, caused by the free dissemination of " Com- 
mon Sense," among the people, the timid among the 
friends of the American cause, and those in sympathy 
with the royalists, both' in Congress and out, united in 
antagonism to the measure ; that sterling patriot, James 
Wilson of Pennsylvania, placing himself at the head of 
the opposition. 

New England, the home of the pilgrims, the Cradle 
of Liberty, the Star in the East, which struck hands 
with brave old Virginia, in the contest for freedom, 
hesitated for a time. And Maryland instructed her 
delegates in Congress not " to assent to any proposi- 
tion for independence, foreign alliance or confedera- 
tion." Present action in favor of independence was 
considered premature on the part of the opposing pa- 
triots, and rebellious on the part of the royalists. 

A good working patriotic majority in Congress, 
without giving name to their ultimate intentions con- 



34 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

tinued to carry on the war, for defence, until the weak 
became strong, and the cause of the royalists dwindled 
into insignificance ; and the House of Burgesses of Vir- 
ginia instructed their delegates in Congress, to move 
for independence, which put the ball in motion, that 
never ceased to roll until independence was declared, a 
confederation effected and alliances with foreign powers 
consummated. L. 

THE EVACUATION OF BOSTON, MARCH 1 7TH, 1 776. 

The British army, more than eight thousand strong, 
exclusive of eleven hundred refugees, well officered, 
well drilled, well clothed, well provisioned, well sup- 
plied with all the munitions of war, had, for many 
months, nestled in Boston, whiling away their time in 
idleness and profligacy, exercising their ingenuity in 
devising means of amusement, to vary the monotony of 
their inactive military discipline. The old South 
Church was appropriated to equestrian exercises, and 
Faneuil Hall to the services of Thespis. Boston was 
at that time the stronghold of the royalists in America, 
and from their position, abundance of supplies and 
their facilities for replenishing their stores and receiving 
reinforcements if necessary, rendered them, as they 
supposed, invincible, never dreaming that they were so 
soon destined to flee before the superior prowess and 
generalship of a Commander they affected to despise, 
and a soldiery they ridiculed. 

Washington, whose army consisted mainly of New 
England militia, badly provisioned, poorly clad, im- 
perfectly drilled and indifferently paid, with a defi- 
ciency of artillery and a scarcity of powder, on the 2d of 
March commenced the siege of the town, and vigorous 
measures were adopted to gain possession of Dorchester 
Heights, a point that would give him the command of 
the city and a large portion of the harbor. As a feint, 
and to annoy the British and draw their attention from 
the main object of his operations, for two nights there 



THE EVACUATION OF BOSTON. 



35 



had been continued a fierce cannonading and bom- 
bardment ; and after dark on the night of the 4th, the 
firing was renewed with augmented virulence from three 
different points, which, with the returning fire from the 
enemy, maintained a continuous roar for twelve con- 
secutive hours, rendering the night hideous. In the 
meantime the American soldiers, twelve hundred strong, 
with three hundred ox teams, in silence, and with un- 
remitting industry, proceeded with the construction of 
their fortifications. Simultaneously with the com- 
mencement of operations on the works, Washington 
commenced taking possession of the Heights. The 
Commander-in-Chief watched the progress of the 
movement throughout the night with the greatest satis- 
faction, heightened as it was by the assurance that the 
manceuver was entirely unknown to the enemy, who 
lay within a short distance, in blissful ignorance of 
their real situation, and unconscious of the dangers that 
were gathering above them. The din of the artillery, 
a fortunate westerly breeze, and a cloud of mist that 
gathered about the foot of the hill, obstructing both 
sound and vision in the direction of the works, all com- 
bined to screen the movements of the workmen and 
maintain the secresy of the operations. As the morn- 
ing of the 5th, bright and fair, broke in upon the be- 
sieged city, revealing the fortifications of immense 
strength and dimensions that had sprung up during the 
night, as by incantation, or the x magic power of fairy 
beings, behind which the Ameri£an army lay safely in- 
trenched, the surprise to all was overwhelming, and the 
dismay to the British officers, entrapped, was simply 
overpowering. The firing, which had been kept up 
with but little abatement on both sides during the night, 
ceased upon the discovery of the fortifications by the 
British, and a silence, deep and significant, ensued. 
As Lord Howe stood in amazement surveying the vast 
works, he remarked that "They must have been the 
employment of at least twelve thousand men." On 
that day the British made some demonstrations, which 



36 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

the Americans supposed to be preliminary to an attack 
upon their works, and were elated at the prospect of a 
speedy arrival of the time when an active encounter 
might terminate their period of long and patient wait- 
ing. But the adage, that " disappointment lurks in 
many a prize " was fully illustrated in this instance, as 
the supposed attacking party were only preparing to 
" change their base " and remove farther from, instead 
of approach nearer the formidable piles. If the British 
had seriously contemplated making an advance upon 
the American lines, since the erection of the fortifica- 
tions, the attempt was delayed on the 6th by the fall of 
an unusually heavy rain. In the meantime Washington 
continued to strengthen his redoubts, and extend them 
nearer and nearer to the enemy's lines, until General 
Howe, satisfied that an encounter must end in disaster 
if not ruin to his army, called a council of war, which 
decided that the immediate evacuation of Boston was 
their only alternative, in view of preventing a vast effu- 
sion of British blood, and saving their supplies, which 
had accumulated in great abundance. 

The loyal inhabitants of Boston, and the royalists 
who had gathered there for protection, were awe- 
stricken at the condition of affairs ; and great was the 
humiliation of the army, when forced to confess their 
inability to protect the faithful adherents to the cause 
of their sovereign. On the 8th, overtures were made 
by the British Commander to Washington for capitula- 
tion, through the select men of Boston. But these 
were not entertained by the American Chieftain, who 
continued to advance his lines, rendering the situation 
of the British more and more desperate ; the scarcity 
of powder restraining him from the free use of what ar- 
tillery he had. Lord Howe, driven to the last extremi- 
ty, commenced making active preparations for de- 
parture, and at 4 o'clock on the morning of the 17th, 
the army and refugees, numbering over nine thousand, 
commenced embarking, and before ten, Albion's proud 
Lion, crouching in the presence of the American Eagle, 



THE EVACUATION OF BOSTON. 37 

was borne away in one hundred and twenty transports. 
The fleet, in lengthened line, passed out of the harbor, 
ladened with sad hearts, disappointed hopes, thwarted 
designs and subdued pride. Every roof, hill-top, ele- 
vated point and wharf, were crowded with human be- 
ings, gazing at the receding ships, and sending male- 
dictions after their tormentors, and rending the air 
with hallelujahs to the name of Washington. 

The Commander-in-Chief immediately moved a por- 
tion of his army into the deserted city, where, upon 
every hand, were observed evidences of haste in the de- 
parture of the British. Honor, glory, a nation's grati- 
tude, were not the only trophies won by this masterly 
achievement ; but those of a more substantial character, 
suited to the needs of the impoverished condition of 
the American army, were found in great abundance, 
which, in their haste to get away, or for want of means 
of transportation, were left behind by the British. The 
munitions of war that fell into the hands of the Ameri- 
cans were as follows, viz. : Two hundred and fifty pieces 
of artillery, one-half of which were in serviceable con- 
dition ; ninety thousand bushels of coal ; twenty-five 
thousand bushels of wheat ; three thousand bushels of 
barley and oats ; one hundred and fifty horses ; a large 
amount of bedding and soldiers' clothing. Besides 
this, a number of British vessels freighted with military 
stores, designed for the army at Boston, not aware of 
its departure, and unconscious of their exposure to cap- 
ture, arrived in succession, and were seized by the 
Americans as prize goods and appropriated by the cap- 
tors, under authority of the laws of war. From one of 
these vessels, besides a large quantity of miscellaneous 
naval stores, there was taken an amount, of powder 
seven times as great as that possessed by Washington 
at the commencement of the siege. 

Taking all things into consideration, this bloodless 
victory stands forth the brightest on the page of Ameri- 
can history, and the brilliancy of no subsequent mili- 
tary achievement has in the least obscured its lustre. 
4 



$8 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

Not only was Boston reclaimed by it, but all New Eng- 
land was effectually and permanently released from 
British rule. During the siege, less than twenty New 
England men were lost, and all New England's freedom 
cost less than two hundred men who fell in battle. 

On the twentieth, Washington, with his main army, 
entered Boston. This was a happy day for New Eng- 
land, made so by the friendly greetings of those who 
had been so long separated, and the removal of the 
military restraints of a proud and arrogant foe. The 
people crowded the thoroughfares to witness the tri- 
umphal entree of their beloved chieftain and his brave 
and victorious followers. All were happy. Washing- 
ton was supremely so, because there were no widows' 
weeds in that joyous crowd to cast a gloom over the 
gladsome scene ; no wails of sorrowing orphans to min- 
gle with the loud huzzas of welcome that greeted him 
on every side. 

This was the first important victory gained by the 
valor, fortitude and endurance of the hardy sons of in- 
dustry, for which New England has ever been cele- 
brated, and of which the conquering army was mainly 
composed. This was the first stunning blow given to 
haughty, tyrannizing royalty on the American Conti- 
nent, administered by the strong arm of democratic 
power, directed by the desire for independence and the 
love of freedom ; while to the invading British it was a 
disaster of surpassing magnitude, dispensing chagrin, 
disgrace and mortification throughout their lines, it 
was to the Americans a harbinger of hope, an incentive 
to a renewed effort, an index to ultimate triumph, which 
inspired them with new courage, and turned the pros- 
pect of the war in their favor. 

The Commander-in-Chief, whose serene countenance 
beamed with the radiance of a self-approving con- 
science, man's highest reward, received from the Con- 
tinental Congress, Colonial Legislatures, municipal 
organizations, the distinguished statesmen of the coun- 
try, and the united voices of the populace, the most 



THE JOURNAL OF CONGRESS. 59 

earnest and soul-cheering expressions of admiration of 
the wisdom, prowess and consummate skill with which 
the siege was conducted, and gratitude for the glorious 
success and beneficial results attending its termination. 

L. 

JOURNAL OF CONGRESS. VOTE OF THANKS. 
MONDAY, MARCH 25, 1 776. 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Congress, in their 
own name, and in the name of the thirteen United 
Colonies, whom they represent, be presented to his ex- 
cellency Gen. Washington, and the officers and soldiers 
under his command, for their wise and spirited conduct 
in the siege and acquisition of Boston ; and that a 
medal of gold be struck in commemoration of this great 
event, and presented to his excellency; and that a 
committee of three be appointed to prepare a letter of 
thanks, and a proper device for the medal. 

The members chosen, Mr. J. Adams, Mr. Jay, and 
Mr. Hopkins. 

The committee appointed to prepare a letter of 
thanks to General Washington, and the officers and 
soldiers under his command, brought in a draught 
which was agreed to : 

Ordered, That it be transcribed, signed by the presi- 
dent, and forwarded. 

The following account of the medal we take from a 
recent issue of the Philadelphia Ledger; and insert it 
in this connection, that the reader may be informed of 
its present whereabouts — and to show that this act of 
Congress, a hundred years ago, is not forgotten by the 
people of the present day — 

THE WASHINGTON MEDAL. 

The original gold medal presented to Gen. George Washington 
by the American Congress in 1776, to commemorate the evacuation 
of Boston by the British troops, has been presented to and is now- 
exhibited at the Boston Public Library. It was bought by some 
wealthy Bostonians for #5000, and was committed to the care of 



40 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

the library trustees on Friday night. The medal, which is of mam- 
moth size and of solid gold, was struck in Paris, and contains on 
the obverse a head of Washington in profile (an excellent likeness), 
and around it is the following inscription : '* George Washington, 
supreme duci exercituum adsertori libertatis comitia Americana." 
George Washington, Commander-in-chief, defender of the liberties 
of the American people. 

On the reverse is the town of Boston in the distance, with a fleet 
in view under sail. Washington and his officers are on horseback 
in the foreground, and he is pointing to the ships as they depart 
from the harbor. The inscription on this side is as follows : " Hos- 
tibus primo fugatis Bostonium recuperatum," the enemy having 
sailed away, Boston is recovered, with the date of March 2, 1 776. 
The history of the medal is as follows : When the Continental 
Congress received intelligence of the evacuation of Boston, they re- 
solved, " that the thanks of the body, in their own name, and in 
the name of the thirteen United Colonies whom they represent, be 
presented to General Washington and the officers and soldiers 
under his command, for their wise and spirited conduct at the siege 
and acquisition of Boston, and that a medal be struck in commem- 
oration of this great event, and presented to His Excellency, and 
that a committee of three be appointed to prepare a letter of thanks 
and a proper device for the medal." The committee appointed 
consisted of John Adams, John Jay and Stephen Hopkins. 

In a letter to General Washington, John Hancock from Phila- 
delphia, April 2d, 1776, said: "It gives me the most sensible 
pleasure to convey to you, by order of Congress, the only tribute 
which a free people will ever consent to pay, the tribute of thanks 
and gratitude to their benefactors. The disinterested and patriotic 
principles which led you to the field have also led you to glory; 
and it affords no little compensation to your countrymen to reflect 
that, as a peculiar greatness of mind induced you to decline any 
remuneration for serving them, except the pleasure of promoting 
their happiness, they may, without your permission, bestow on you 
the largest share of their affection and esteem." 

John Adams, in a private letter written at the same time, said : 
*' I congratulate you," said Mr. Adams, " as well as all the friends 
of mankind, on the reduction of Boston, an event which appeared 
to me of so great and decisive importance that the next morning 
after the arrival of the news I did myself the honor to move for the 
thanks of Congress to Your Excellency, and that a medal of gold 
should be struck in commemoration of it." L. 



THE JOURNAL OF CONGRESS. 41 

INSTRUCTIONS OF THE CONVENTION OF VIRGINIA TO THEIR 
DELEGATES IN CONGRESS. 

May i j, 1776. 

In the Convention of Virginia it was this day unanimously 

Resolved "That their delegates be instructed to propose to that 
body to declare the United Colonies free and independent States, 
absolved from all allegiance upon the Crown or Parliament of Great 
Britain, and that they give the assent of this Colony to such decla- 
ration, and to measures for forming foreign alliances and a confed- 
eration of the Colonies; provided, that the power of forming a 
Government for, and the regulation of the internal concerns of each 
colony, be left to the respective colonial legislatures." 

Whereupon Mr. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, on Friday, the 
7th of June, offered the following resolution, which was seconded 
by Mr. John Adams, of Massachusetts : 

Resolved, "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to 
be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all 
allegiance to the British Crown, and all political connection be- 
tween them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, to- 
tally dissolved." 

The action taken upon this resolution, as recorded in the Jour- 
nal, was as follows : 

Friday, June 7, 1776. 

Certain resolutions, respecting independency, being moved and 
seconded, 

Resolved, That the consideration of them be referred till to- 
morrow morning, and that the members be enjoined to attend punc- 
tually at 10 o'clock, in order to take the same into consideration. 

Saturday, June 8, 1776. 

Resolved, That the resolutions respecting independency be re- 
ferred to a Committee of the Whole Congress. 

The Congress then resolved itself into a Committee of the 
Whole, and after some time, the President resumed the chair, and 
Mr. Harrison reported that the committee have taken into consid- 
eration the matter to them referred, but not having come to any 
resolution thereon, directed him to move for leave to sit again on 
Monday. 

Resolved, That this Congress will on Monday next, at IO o'clock, 
resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, to take into further 
consideration the resolutions referred to them. 

Monday, June 10, 1776. 
Agreeable to order, the Congress resolved itself into a Commit- 
tee of the Whole, to take into further consideration the resolutions 

4* 



42 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

to them referred ; and, after some time spent thereon, the President 
resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported that the committee 
have had under consideration the matters referred to them, and 
have come to a resolution thereon, which they direct him to report. 

The resolution agreed to in Committee of the Whole Congress 
being read, 

Resolved, That the consideration of the first resolution be post- 
poned to Monday, the first day of July next, and in the meanwhile, 
that no time be lost, in case the Congress agree thereto, that a com- 
mittee be appointed to prepare a declaration to the effect of the said 
first resolution, which is in these words : " That these United Colo- 
nies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States ; 
that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and 
that all political connection between them and the State of Great 
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." 

Tuesday, June u, 1776. 

Resolved, That the committee for preparing the declaration con- 
sist of five. 

The members chosen, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. J. Adams, Mr. Franklin, 
Mr. Sherman and Mr. R. R. Livingston. * 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare and digest 
a form of confederation to be entered into between these Colonies. 

That a committee be appointed to prepare a plan of treaties to 
be proposed to foreign powers. 

Wednesday, June 12, 1776. 

Resolved, That the committee appointed to prepare and digest 
the form of a confederation to be entered into between these Colo- 
nies, consist of a member from each colony. 

The members appointed, Mr. Bartlett, Mr. S. Adams, Mr. Hop- 
kins, Mr. Sherman, Mr. R. R. Livingston, Mr. Dickinson, Mr. 
McKean, Mr. Stone, Mr. kelson, Mr. Hewes, Mr. E. Rutledge, 
and Mr. Gwinnett. 

Resolved, That the committee to prepare a plan of treaties to be 
proposed to foreign powers, consist of five. 

The members chosen, Mr. Dickinson, Mr. Franklin, Mr. J. 
Adams, Mr. Harrison and Mr. Morris. 

Tuesday, June 23, 1776. 
A declaration of the deputies of Pennsylvania, met in provincial 
conference, was laid before Congress, and read, expressing their 
willingness to concur in a vote of Congress, declaring the United 
Colonies Free and Independent States. 

* Richnrd Henry Lee would have been on that Committee, and its Chair- 
man, had not sickness in his family called him home at the time of its appoint- 
ment. 



THE JOURNAL OF CONGRESS. 43 

Friday, June 28. 
Francis Hopkins, Esq., one of the delegates of New Jersey, at- 
tended the credentials of their appointment, which was read as fol- 
lows, viz. : 

In Provincial Congress, New Jersey, June 21, 1776. 

The Congress proceeded to the election of delegates to represent 
the Colony in Continental Congress, when Richard Stockton, Abra- 
ham Clark, John Hart, and Francis Hopkins, Esqs., and Dr. John 
Witherspoon, elected by ballot to serve for one year, unless a new 
appointment be made before that time. 

Resolved, That the following instructions be given to the dele- 
gates as aforesaid : 

The Congress empower and direct you, in the name of this Colo- 
ny, to join with the delegates of the other Colonies in Continental 
Congress, in the most vigorous measures for supporting the just 
rights and liberties of America; and, if you shall judge it necessary 
or expedient for this purpose, we empozver you to join with them in 
declaring the United Colonies independent of Great Britain, enter- 
ing into a confederation for union and common defense, making 
treaties with foreign nations for commerce and assistance, and to 
take such other measures as may appear to them and you necessary 
for these great ends ; promising to support them with the whole 
force of this province ; always observing, that, whatever plan of 
confederacy you may enter into, the regulating of internal police 
of this province is to be reserved to the Colony Legislature. Bv 
order of Congress. 

Samuel Tucker, President. 
Wm. Patterson, Secretary. 

Extract from the minutes. 

The committee appointed to prepare a declaration, etc., brought 
in a draught, which was read. 

Ordered to lie on the table. 

Resolved, That Mr. Hopkins be added to the committee for 
preparing a plan of confederation. 

Monday, July i, 1776. 

The order of the day being read, 

Resolved, That this Congress will resolve itself into a Commit- 
tee of the whole, to take into consideration the resolution respect- 
ing independency. 

That the declaration be referred to said Committee. The Con- 
gress resolved itself into Committee of the whole. After some 
time the President resumed the chair, and Mr- Harrison reported, 
that the Committee had come to a resolution, which thev desire to 
report, and to move for leave to sit again : 

Mr. Dickinson of Pennsylvania spoke against the resolution as 
follows : 



44 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

I value the love of my country, as I ought, but I value my coun- 
try more, and I desire this illustrious assembly to witness the in- 
tegrity, if not the policy of my conduct. The first campaign will 
be decisive of the controversy, the declaration will not strengthen 
us by one man, or by the least supply while it may expose our 
soldiers to additional cruelties and outrages. Without some pre- 
lusory trials of strength we ought not to commit our country upon 
an alternative, where to recede would be infamy, and to persist 
might be destruction. No instance is recollected of a people with- 
out a battle fought, or an ally gained, abrogating forever their con- 
nection with a warlike commercial empire. It might unite the 
different parties in Great Britain against us, and it might create 
disunion among ourselves. 

With other powers it would rather injure than avail us. For- 
eign aid will not be obtained but by our actions in the field, which 
are the only evidences of our union and vigor that will be re- 
spected. In the war between the United Provinces and Spain, 
France and England assisted the provinces before they declared 
themselves independent : if it is the interest of any European king- 
dom to aid us, we shall be aided without such a declaration : if it 
is not, we shall not be aided with it. Before such an irrevocable 
step shall be taken, we ought to know the disposition of the great 
powers, and how far they will permit any one or more of them to 
interfere. The erection of an independent empire on this conti- 
nent is a phenomenon in the world ; its effects will be immense, and 
may vibrate round the globe. How they may affect, or be supposed 
to affect old establishments, is not ascertained. It is singularly disre- 
spectful to France, to make the declaration before her sense is 
known ; as we have sent an agent expressly to inquire whether 
such a declaration would be acceptable to her, and we have rea- 
son to believe he is now arrived at the court of Versailles. The 
measure ought to be delayed, till the common interests shall in the 
best manner be consulted by common consent. Besides the door 
to accommodation with Great Britain ought not to be shut, until 
we know what terms can be obtained from some competent power. 
Thus to break with her before we have compacted with another, 
is to make experiments on the lives and liberties of my countrymen, 
which I would sooner die than agree to make ; at best it is to throw 
us into the hands of some other power and to lie at mercy, for we 
shall have passed the river that is never to be repassed. We ought 
to retain the declaration and remain masters of our own fame and 
fate. We ought to inform that power, that we are filled with a just 
detestation of our oppressors ; that we are determined to cast off 
forever all subjection to them, to declare ourselves independent, 
and to support that declaration with our lives and fortunes, provi- 
ded that power will approve the proceeding, acknowledge our in- 
dependence, and enter into a treaty with us upon equitable and ad- 



THE JOURNAL OF CONGRESS. 45 

vantageous conditions. Other objections to the declaration at this 
time are suggested by our internal circumstances. The formation 
of our governments and an agreement upon the terms of our con- 
federation, ought to precede the assumption of our station among 
sovereigns. A sovereignty composed of several distinct bodies of 
men, not subject to established constitutions, and not combined to- 
gether by confirmed articles of union, is such a sovereignty as has 
never appeared. These particulars would not be unobserved by 
foreign kingdoms and states, and they will wait for other proofs of 
political energy, before they will treat us with the desired attention. 
With respect to ourselves, the consideration is still more serious. 
The forming of our governments is a new and difficult work. 
When this is done and the people perceive, that they and their 
posterity are to live under well regulated constitutions, they will 
be encouraged to look forward to independence, as completing the 
noble system of their political happiness. The objects nearest to 
them are now enveloped in clouds, and those more distant appear 
confused ; the relation one citizen is to bear to another, and the 
connection one state is to have with another, they do not, cannot 
know. Mankind are naturally attached to plans of government 
that promise quiet and security. General satisfaction with them 
when formed, would indeed be a great point attained; but persons 
of reflection will perhaps think it absolutely necessary, that Con- 
gress should institute some mode of preserving them from future 
discords. 

The confederation ought to be settled before the declaration of 
independence. Foreigners will think it most regular, the weaker 
states will not be in so much danger of having disadvantageous 
terms imposed upon them by the stronger. If the declaration is 
first made, political necessities may urge on the acceptance of con- 
ditions highly disagreeable to parts of the Union. The present 
comparative circumstances of the Colonies are now tolerably well 
understood ; but some have very extraordinary claims to territory, 
that if admitted, as they might be in a future confederation, the 
terms of it not being yet adjusted, all idea of the present compari- 
son between them would be confounded. Those whose boundaries 
are acknowledged would sink in proportion to the elevation of 
their neighbors. Besides, the unlocated lands, not comprehended 
within acknowledged boundaries are deemed a fund sufficient to 
defray a vast part, if not the whole of the expenses of the war. 

These ought to be considered as the property of all, acquired by 
the arms of all. For these reasons the boundaries of the Colonies 
ought to be fixed before the declaration, and their respective rights 
mutually guaranteed; and the unlocated lands ought also, pre- 
vious to that declaration, to be solemnly appropriated to the bene- 
fit of all, for it may be extremely difficult, if not impracticable to 
obtain these decisions afterwards. Upon the whole, when things 



a6 the centennial liberty bell. 

shall be thus delibei-ately rendered firm at home, and favorable 
abroad, then let America, Attollens humeris farnajfi et fata nepo- 
tum bearing up her glory and the destiny of her descendants, ad- 
vance with majestic steps and assume her station among the sover- 
eigns of the world." K. 

The resolution agreed to by the committee of the whole being 
read, the determination thereof was, at the request of a colony, (S. 
Carolina) postponed till to-morrow. 

TUESDAY, JULY 2, 1 776. 

The Congress resumed the consideration of the resolution re- 
ported from the committee of the whole, which was agreed to as 
follows : 

Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and, of right, ought to 
be, Free and Independent states ; that they are absolved from all 
allegiance of the British crown, and that all political connection 
between them, and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, 
totally dissolved. L. 

JOHN ADAMS' SPEECH ON THE REVOLUTION. 

When I look back to 1 76 1, and run through the series of political 
events the chain of causes and effects, I am surprised at the sudden- 
ness as well as greatness of this revolution. Britain has been filled 
with folly, and America with wisdom. It is the will cf Heaven that 
the two countries should be sundered forever ; it may be the will 
of Heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wasting, 
and distresses yet more dreadful. If this is to be the case, the fur- 
nace of affliction produces refinement in states as well as individu- 
als ; but I submit all my hopes and fears to an overruling Provi- 
dence in which, unfashionable as the path may be, I firmly believe. 
Had the Declaration of Independence been made seven months 
ago, we might before this hour have formed alliances with foreign 
states; we should have mastered Quebec, and been in possession 
of Canada ; but on the other hand, the delay has many great ad- 
vantages attending it. The hopes of reconciliation, which were 
fondly entertained by multitudes of the honest and well meaning, 
though weak and mistaken, have been gradually and at last totally 
extinguished. Time has been given for the whole people maturely 
to consider the great question of independence, so that in every 
colony of the thirteen, they have now adopted it as their own act. 
But the day is past. The second day of July, 1776, will be the 
most memorable epoch in the history of America ; to be celebrated 
by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival, com- 
memorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion 
to God Almighty from one end of the continent to the other, from 
this time forward forevermore. You will think me transported with 
enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, 



THE JOURNAL OF CONGRESS. 47 

and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and 
support and defend these states ; yet through, all the gloom, I can 
see the rays of light and glory ; that the end is worth all the means ; 
that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even though we 
should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not. K. 

Many years after the thrilling scenes, which charac- 
terize these " times that tried men's souls " had passed 
away, Mr. Webster, yet appreciating the sentiments, 
that caused the great heart of John Adams to heave 
with patriotic emotions, and inspired him with a will- 
ingness to lay upon the altar of his oppressed and 
bleeding country, fortune, liberty, and life if needs be ; 
ascribed to him the utterances of the following out- 
burst of patriotism, and devotion to Liberty and Inde- 
pendence. L. 

Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand 
and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that in the begin- 
ning we aimed not at independence. But there's a divinity which 
shapes our ends. 

The injustice of England has driven us to arms ; and blinded to 
her own interest for our good, she has obstinately persisted, till in- 
dependence is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to 
it, and it is ours. Why, then, should we defer the declaration? Is 
any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, 
which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or 
safety to his own life and his own honor? Are not you, sir, who 
sit in that chair, is not he, our venerable colleague near you, are 
you not both already the prescribed and predestined objects of pun- 
ishment and of vengeance? Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, 
what are you, what can you be, while the power of England re- 
mains, but outlaws ? If we postpone independence, do we mean 
to carry on or to give up the war? Do we mean to submit to the 
measures of parliament, Boston Port Bill and all ? Do we mean to 
submit, and consent that we ourselves shall be ground to powder, 
and our country and its rights trodden down to dust? 

I know we do not mean to submit. We never shall submit. Do 
we intend to violate that most solemn obligation ever entered into 
by men, that plighting, before God, of our sacred honor to Washing- 
ton, when, putting him forth to incur the dangers of war, as well 
as the political hazards of the times, we promised to adhere to him, 
in every extremity, with our fortunes and our lives ? 

I know there is not a man here, who would not rather see a 
general conflagration sweep over the land, or an earthquake sink 



48 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

it, than one jot or tittle of that plighted faith fall to the ground. For 
myself, having, twelve months ago, in this place, moved you, that 
George Washington be appointed commander of the forces, raised 
or to be raised, for defence of American liberty, may my right hand 
forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, 
if I hesitate or waver in the support I give him. 

The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through. And if 
the war must go on, why put off longer the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence ? That measure will strengthen us. It will give us char- 
acter abroad. The nations will then treat with us, which they 
never can do while we acknowledge ourselves subjects in arms 
against our sovereign. Nay, I maintain that England herself will 
sooner treat for peace with us on the footing of Independence, 
than consent, by repealing her acts, to acknowledge that her whole 
conduct toward us has been a course of injustice and oppression. 
Her pride will be less wounded by submitting to that course of 
things which now predestines our Independence, than by yielding 
the points in controversy to her rebellious subjects. The former 
she would regard as the result of fortune ; the latter she would feel 
as her own deep disgrace. Why then, why then, sir, do we not as 
soon as possible change this from a civil to a national war ? And 
since we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state to 
enjoy all the benefits of victory, if we gain the victory? If we fail, 
it can be no worse for us. But we shall not fail. The cause will 
raise up armies : the cause will create navies. The people, the 
people if we are true to them, will carry us and will carry them- 
selves, gloriously, through this struggle. I care not how fickle 
other people have been found. I know the people of these colo- 
nies, and I know that resistance to British aggression is deep and 
settled in their hearts, and cannot be eradicated. Every colony, 
indeed, has expressed its willingness to follow, if we but take the 
lead. Sir, the declaration will inspire the people with increased 
courage. Instead of a long and bloody war for the restoration of 
privileges, for redress of grievances, for chartered immunities held 
under a British king, set before them the glorious object of entire 
independence, and it will breathe into them anew the breath of life. 
Read this declaration at the head of the army; every sword will 
be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered, to main- 
tain it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the pul- 
pit; religion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty will 
cling round it, resolve to stand with it, or fall with it. Send it to 
the public halls ; proclaim it there ; let them hear it who heard the 
first roar of the enemy's cannon, let them see it who saw their 
brothers and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill and in the 
streets of Lexington and Concord, and the very walls will cry out 
in its support. Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I 
see, I see clearly through this day's business. You and I, indeed, 



THE JOURNAL OF CONGRESS. 49 

may rue it. We may not live to the time when this declaration 
shall be made good. We may die ; die colonists ; die slaves ; die, 
it may be ignominiously, and on the scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. 
If it be the pleasure of Heaven thit my country shall require the 
poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready, at the appointed 
hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But while I do live, 
let me have a country, or at least the hope of a country, and that a 
free country. But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured 
that this declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may 
cost blood; but it will stand, and it will richly compensate for boih. 
Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of 
the future as the sun in heaven. We shall make this a glorious, 
and immortal day. When we are in our graves, our children will 
honor it. They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, 
with bonfires, and illuminations. On its annual return, they will 
shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery, 
not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude, and of 

joy. 

Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judgment ap- 
proves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, 
and all that Lam, and all that I hope in this life, I am now here ready 
to stake upon it ; and I leave off as I begun, that, live or die, survive 
or perish, I am for the declaration. It is my living sentiment, and 
by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment, — Indepen- 
dence now, and independence forever ! K. 

Resolved, That this Congress will to-morrow, again resolve itself 
into a committee of the whole, to take into their further considera- 
tion the declaration respecting independence. 

Wednesday, July -3, 1776. 

Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself 
into a committee of the whole, to take into their further considera- 
tion, the declaration ; and after some time, the president resumed 
the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee, not hav- 
ing yet gone through it, desired leave to sit again. 

Resolved, That this Congress will, to-morrow, again resolve itself 
into a committee of the whole, to take into their further considera- 
tion the Declaration of Independence. 

Adjourned to nine o'clock to-morrow. 

Thursday, July 4, 1776. 

Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself 
into a committee of the whole, to take into their further considera- 
tion, the declaration ; and after some time, the president resumed 
the 'chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee had 
agreed to a declaration, which they desired him to report. 

The declaration being read, was agreed to, as follows : L. 

5 



50 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA, JULY 4TH, 1 776. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for 
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected 
them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth 
the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and of 
Nature's God entitle them; a decent respect to the opinions of 
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
them to a separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident: — that all men are 
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pur- 
suit of happiness ; that to secure these rights, governments are in- 
stituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of 
the governed ; that whenever any form of government becomes de- 
structive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to 
abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation 
on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to 
them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. 

Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established 
should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and accord- 
ingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to 
suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abol- 
ishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long 
train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, 
evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is 
their right, it is their duty, to throw off such governments, and to 
provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the 
patient sufferance of these Cclonies ; and such is now the necessity 
which constrains' them to alter their former systems of government. 
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of re- 
peated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the es- 
tablishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove 
this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and ne- 
cessary for the public good. He has forbidden the governors to 
pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended 
in their operation, till his assent should be obtained; and when so 
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has re- 
fused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of 
people, unless those people would relinquish the right of represen- 
tation in the legislature, — a right inestimable to them, and formida- 
ble to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, un- 
comfortable, and distant from the repository of their public records., 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 51 

for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his 
measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing 
with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He 
has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others 
to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of anni- 
hilation, have returned to the people at large, for their exercise ; 
the state remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of 
invasion from without and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of the States ; for 
that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners ; 
refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and 
raising the conditions of new appropriation of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing his 
assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure 
of their offices and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms 
of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us in times of peace standing armies without 
the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of and supe- 
rior to the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign 
to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws, — giving his 
assent to their acts of pretended legislation. 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : 

For protecting them by a mock trial, from punishment for any 
murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these 
states : 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world: 

For imposing races on us without our consent : 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury : 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended 
offences : 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 
province, establishing therein the arbitrary government, and enlarg- 
ing its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example of fit in- 
strument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colo- 
nies : 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable 
laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments : 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves 
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his 
protection and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, 
ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our 
people. 



52 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercena- 
ries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, 
already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy, scarcely 
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head 
of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high 
seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners 
of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has en- 
deavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless 
Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished 
destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for re- 
dress in the most humble terms : our repeated petitions have been 
answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus 
marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the 
ruler of a free people. Nor have we been wanting in attentions to 
our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of 
attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction 
over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our mi- 
gration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native 
justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of 
our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would 
inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. 

They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consan- 
guinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which de- 
nounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of 
mankind, — enemies in war, in peace friends. 

WE, therefore, the representatives of the United States of Amer- 
ica, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge 
of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and 
by the authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly 
publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are absolved 
from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political con- 
nection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought 
to be, totally dissolved; and that, as free and independent States, 
they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, 
establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which in- 
dependent States may of right do. 

And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on 
the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each 
other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

The foregoing declaration, was by order of Congress, engrossed, 
and signed by the following members : 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



53 



John Hancock. 
New Hampshire. James Smith 

Josiah Bartlett, 
William Whipple, 
Mathew Thornton. 



Massachusetts Bay. 
Samuel Adams, 
John Adams, 
Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island. 
Stephen Hopkins, 
William Ellery. 

Connecticut. 
Roger Sherman, 
Samuel Huntington, 
William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 

New York. 
William Floyd, 
Philip Livingstone, 
Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 

New Jersey. 
Richard Stockton, 
John Witherspoon, 
Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, 
Abraham Clarke. 

Pennsylvania. 
Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 
George Clymer, 



George Taylor, 
James Wilson, 
George Ross. 



Delaware. 
Caesar Rodney, 
George Read, 
Thomas M'Kean. 

MARYLAND. 

Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, 
Thomas Stone, 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Virginia. 
George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Nelson, Jr., 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
George Braxton. 

North Carolina. 
William Hooper, 
Joseph Hewes, 
John Penn. 

South Carolina. 
Edward Rutledge, 
Thomas Hey ward, Jr., 
Thomas Lynch, Jr., 
Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. 
Burton Gwinnett, 
Lyman Hall, 
George Walton. 



Resolved, That copies of the declaration be sent to the several 
Assemblies, Conventions and Committees or Councils of Safety, and 
to the several commanding officers of the continental troops ; that 
it be proclaimed in each of the United States, and at the head of the 
army. K. 



54 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

THE DECLARATION READ TO THE PEOPLE OF PHILA- 
DELPHIA. 

From the observatory erected in Independence 
Square, south of the Hall, by the Philosophical Society, 
to observe the transit of Venus over the Sun in 1769, 
the Declaration was first read to the populace of Phila- 
delphia, on Monday, July 8th, at 12 o'clock, by John 
Nixon, a member of the Council of Safety, the sheriff 
of the county, who was first invited to perform that ser- 
vice, declining to accept the proffered honor. 

AMENDMENT OF THE ORIGINAL DRAFT OF THE DECLARA- 
TION. 

The original draft of the Declaration, was amended 
in committee of the whole, by striking out the follow- 
ing count in the indictment against the King, in refer- 
ence to the foreign slave trade, at the request of South 
Carolina and Georgia. 

" He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating 
its most sacred rights of life and liberty, in the persons of a distant 
people, who never offended him, capturing and carrying them into 
slavery, in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable deaths in their 
transportation thither, this practical warfare, the opprobrium of infi- 
del powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain, 
determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought 
and sold. He has prostituted his negative for suppressing every 
legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce, 
and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distin- 
guished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms 
among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived 
them, by murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them, 
thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one 
people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the 
lives of another." 

THE SIGNERS AND THE SIGNING OF THE DECLARATION. 

By the perusal of the foregoing proceedings of Con- 
gress, touching the adoption and signing of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, the reader would rationally be 
led to infer, that the work was fully consummated on 



THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION. 55 

the fourth day of July, 1776, as we have it reported, 
and herein recorded; that it there and then received 
the unanimous vote of the House, and was signed by 
every member. But such was not the fact. We crave 
indulgence here, for making a brief recapitulatory di- 
gression from the point in view, for the purpose of af- 
fording means of explaining a very important discrep- 
ancy or discrepancies that become apparent, when com- 
pared with other historical delineations of this, the 
most momentous event in our revolutionary annals, and 
which must forever mar the veracity of Dunlap's Jour- 
nal, where they appear as official and authentic records. 
It will be recollected that on May 15th, 1776, the 
House of Burgesses of Virginia passed resolutions of 
instructions to their delegates in Congress, to introduce 
into that body resolutions, declaring the United Colo- 
nies free and independent States, etc. Acting under 
this instruction, Richard Henry Lee, on the 7th of 
June, offered the following resolution, which was 
seconded by John Adams of Massachusetts : 

" Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought 
to be, free and independent States ; that they are absolved from all 
allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection 
between then and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, 
totally dissolved." 

This resolution, which contains the whole gist of the 
Declaration, was considered on the 8th, and deferred 
to the 10th, when it was considered in Committee of 
the Whole. It was then postponed until July 1st. In 
the meantime the committee was appointed to prepare 
a declaration, which reported the draft of a declaration 
of independence, on June 27th. It was read and laid 
on the table. On July 1st, according to the postpone- 
ment, Congress took up Mr. Lee's resolution of inde- 
pendence in Committee of the Whole. It was debated 
that day, and postponed until the next day, July 2d, 
when it was further debated, and adopted by a majority 
of the colonies — twelve voting for it, and one (New 
York), not voting. On the same day the declaration 



56 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

was taken up by Congress, and debated, the debate 
continuing on the 3d, and until towards evening on the 
4th, when it was adopted by the same vote that passed 
Mr. Lee's resolution, viz., by twelve States, New York 
not voting. 

According to Mr. Jefferson, it was signed on the day 
of its passage, by every member present, except Mr. 
John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania. Now the question 
is, who were present at that time? There certainly 
was not a full delegation of all the thirteen States. 

Amid the confusion that has existed for the last hun- 
dred years among historical writers, upon this initial 
point of our National Independence, it is extremely 
difficult to get a correct idea of the exact state of af- 
fairs, or the relation in which the various members of 
Congress stood to the great event. The signing then 
done was upon paper, and so imperfectly represented 
the numerical status of the body, and the general senti- 
ment of the people, that the Declaration, published in 
accordance with the resolution, was signed only by the 
President and Secretary. 

Members who were present during the debates and 
voting, and who refused to support the measure, with- 
drew when they saw it was adopted, and were not 
present during the signing, with the only exception of 
Mr. Dickinson. 

THE FOLLOWING DELEGATES CONSTITUTED THE CONGRESS, 
JULY 4, 1776. 

Those marked with a * were absent during the sign- 
ing ; those marked with a f did not vote for the Decla- 
ration, but signed it afterwards : 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

William H. Whipple, *John Langdon, Josiah Bartlett. Ap- 
pointed February 29, 1776. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat 
Paine, Elbridge Gerry. February 9, 1 776. 



THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION. 57 

RHODE ISLAND. 

Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. May 14, 1776. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Roger Sherman, Oliver Wolcott, Samuel Huntingdon, * Titus 
Hosmer, William Williams. January 16, 1 776. 

NEW YORK. 

* Philip Livingston, * James Duane, *John Alsop, * William 
Floyd, * Lewis Moi-ris, *John Jay, * Henry Wisner, * Philip 
Schuyler, * George Clinton, * Francis Lewis, Robert R. Living- 
ston, Jr. May II, 1 776. 

NEW JERSEY. 

Richard Stockton, Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkin- 
son, Dr. John Witherspoon. June 28, 1 776. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

John Morton, *John Dickinson, -j- Robert Morris, Benjamin 
Franklin, * Charles Humphreys, * Edward Biddle, * Thomas Wil- 
ling, * Andrew Allen, and James Wilson. November 3, 1775. 

LOWER COUNTIES ON THE DELAWARE. 

Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean, f George Read. May 11, 
1775- 

MARYLAND. 

* Mathew Tilghman, * Thomas Johnson, Jr. , * Robert Golds- 
borough, William Paca, Thomas Stone, * John Hall. September 
13, 1775- 

VIRGINIA. 

Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Nelson, George Wythe, Francis Lightfoot Lee. Septem- 
ber 13, 1775. And Carter Braxton was appointed February 23, 
1776. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

William Hooper, Joseph Hewes. May u, 1775. And John 
Penn, appointed October 13. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

* Thomas Lynch, *John Rutledge, Edward Rutledge, Arthur 
Middleton, Thomas Heywood, Jr., and Thomas Lynch, Jr. April 
24, 1776. 

GEORGIA. 

Lyman Hall, Button Gwinnett, * Archibald Bullock, *John 
Houston, George Walton. May 20, 1776. 

On the 4th of July, 1776, Congress consisted of sev- 



5 J THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

enty members, twenty-six of whom did not vote for in- 
dependence. Of the thirteen colonies, five, by their 
delegates, voted for it unanimously, viz., Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, New Jersey, Virginia and North Caro- 
lina. Eight did not vote for it unanimously, viz., 
New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylva- 
nia, Delaware, Maryland, South Carolina and Georgia. 
The majority of votes in the House, in favor of Mr. 
Lee's resolution and the Declaration of Independence, 
was forty-four. This comparatively small majority was 
not owing, entirely, to a difference of political opinions 
amongst the delegates, nor to a want of patriotism, 
generally, on the part of the minority. There were 
other causes conspiring to diminish the majority and 
increase the minority — such as sickness, unavoidable 
absence, at other posts of duty, contra instructions from 
the appointing authorities, etc. It was on account of 
this lack of unanimity that, when first published on 
July 6, it was styled "A Declaration by the Represen- 
tatives of the United States of America. " 

It was not deemed advisable that a matter fraught 
with so grave an import, as the creation of a new Gov- 
ernment, destined to extend over a territory almost il- 
limitable, and to include many millions of people, 
should be consummated without a unity of sentiment 
and action on the part of the framers thereof. 

In order that some time might be allowed to work 
out the desirable change in the condition of Congress, 
the engrossment of the Declaration on parchment was 
deferred until the 19th of July. In the meantime the 
Convention of New York, sitting at WJiite Plains, July 
9th, rescinded the resolution passed one year before, 
and under which the delegates in Congress had hitherto 
acted, instructing them to support reconciliatory mea- 
sures only, and passed one approving of the resolution 
of Independence and the Declaration, and empowering 
her delegates in Congress to adopt and concert all ne- 
cessary measures, etc., connected with the matter. 
Thus, five days after the formal adoption of the Decla- 



THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION. 59 

ration, the delegates were instructed to record the vote 
of New York in its favor. Six of the nine delegates 
from Pennsylvania did not vote for the resolution of 
Independence on July 2, nor for the Declaration on the 
4th. The Convention then in session, not satisfied 
with the action of the majority of their delegates, on 
the 20th of July appointed a new delegation, retaining 
Robert Morris, who was absent at the time of voting, 
and the three who voted for the Declaration, viz., Dr. 
B. Franklin, John Morton and James Wilson, and ap- 
pointed five new ones, to wit, Dr. Benjamin Rush, 
George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, George 
Ross, all of whom signed the Declaration. 

On August 2, the Declaration being fully engrossed 
on parchment, was signed by every member of Con- 
gress, fifty-five in number — on July 4, the Congress 
consisted of seventy members ; in less than one month 
the number had decreased to fifty-five. The different 
States were represented at the two periods as follows : 

STATES. NUMBER OF DELEGATES JULY 4. DO. AUGUST 2. 

New Hampshire 3 2 

Massachusetts 5 5 

Rhode Island 2 2 

Connecticut 5 4 

New York 1 1 4 

New Jersey 5 5 

Pennsylvania 9 9 

Delaware 3---- 3 

Maryland 6 \. 

Virginia 7 7 

North Carolina 3. 3 

South Carolina 6 4 

Georgia 5 3 

Total 70 Total 55 

Mathew Thornton, of New Hampshire, was appointed Novem- 
ber 4, and signed the Declaration 1 

The number upoa the engrossed copy, now in Independence 



60 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

On Saturday, May 6th, 1876, the originally engrossed 
copy was removed from the place assigned to it in the 
Patent Office at Washington, D. C, and placed, for the 
present, in the same room, in Independence Hall, where 
it originated in 1776. L. 

The Public Ledger, of Monday, the 8th, contains the 
following excellent and pertinent remarks in relation 
to the proceedings and ceremonies connected with the 
event, which we take the liberty of transferring to our 
pages. 

THE ORIGINAL " DECLARATION " RESTORED TO THE 
OLD HALL. 

On Saturday afternoon the original parchment scroll, bearing the 
engrossment of tie Declaration of Independence, and the signa- 
tures placed upon it by the hands of the illustrious signers, was re- 
stored to the Hall of Independence where it was signed, there to 
rest and to be visible to all visitors during the Centennial year. 
The deposit was made in the presence of the Mayor, the Presidents 
of Councils, Col. Frank Etting, Chairman of the Committee on Re- 
storation of the Hall, several ladies and gentlemen of the same 
committee, and a few other persons. The ceremony was quiet and 
simple; but, unpretentious as it was, the placing of the venerated 
document once more in the old Hall, was deeply impressive. A 
report of the proceedings will be found in another column. 

The instrument thus restored to the Hall occupied by the Con- 
gress of 1775— '76, and to the immediate chamber in which it was 
signed, is the official copy engrossed on parchment, as ordered by 
a Resolution of Congress on the 19th of July, 1776, which Resolu- 
tion we copy from the Secret Journal of the proceedings of that 
day, as follows : 

" Resolved, That the declaration passed on the 4th be fairly en- 
grossed on parchment, with the style and title — 'The Unanimous 
Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America,' 
and that the same, when engrossed, be signed by every member of 
Congress." 

The next entry on the journal is in these words: ''August 2d, 
1776 — The Declaration of Independence being engrossed, was 
signed by the members." 

As already observed, the Declaration thus ordered to be en- 
grossed and signed is the instrument restored to Independence Hall 
on Saturday. The parchment scroll is now framed and glazed for 
protection, and is deposited in a fire-proof safe especially designed 
for both preservation and convenient display. Its aspect is of course 



THE DECLARATION IN THE OLD HALL. 6 1 

faded and time-worn. The text is fully legible, but the major part 
of the signatures are so pale as to be only dimly discernible in the 
strongest light, a few remain readable, and some are wholly invis- 
ible, the spaces which contained them presenting only a blank. 

It is a most impressive thing to stand in that Hall and, looking 
at the venerated relic, to experience the thoughts, feelings and 
emotions excited by the document and its surroundings. There is 
the Gospel of the New Dispensation of political freedom, based 
upon the inherent and inalienable rights of mankind, as proclaimed 
by the great men of that Congress; there is the parchment upon 
which the eyes of every one of the signers was centred as each of 
them went up to the table to place his name upon its face; there 
are the lines traced by their very hands a hundred years ago; there 
is the scroll held in the very hands of Jefferson, and Franklin, and 
Hancock, and the Adamses, and Carroll, and the Lees, and Sher- 
man, and Rush, and Witherspoon, and Livingston, and Wythe, and 
Rutledge, and McKean, and Gwinnett, and Morris, and Clymer, 
and Stockton, and Hopkinson, and all their illustrious colleagues. 
Looking upon it, these thoughts come up spontaneously, and the 
mind involuntarily translates itself to the actual scene, the actual 
presence, a hundred years ago, and peoples the Hall with the il- 
lustrious statesmen who occupied it on the 2d of July, 1776, when 
Richard Henry Lee's resolution of independence was passed; on 
the Fourth of July, when Jefferson's Declaration was adopted and 
authenticated ; and on the Second of August, when this engrossed 
parchment was formally "signed by the members." 

Independence Hall is the only fit place of deposit for that in- 
strument during this year at least. The thanks of the people of 
the whole country, and of our visitors from all countries, are due 
to those here and in Washington who have exerted their influence 
to have it placed in Independence Hall during the Centennial 
year, instead of at the Exhibition Grounds. What will be displayed 
at the Exhibition proper will illustrate the vast material and intel- 
lectual progress made by the world in the last hundred years, and 
will be marvellous in its grandeur and proportions ; but if all the 
millions of engines and implements and devices and products of 
that hundred years, and all of the literature to which the century 
has given birth, were combined in one concentrated influence, it 
would not surpass the impulse given to the world by that one docu- 
ment. It is entitled to stand in the most honored prominence, en- 
vironed by none but the most hallowed of human surroundings. 
There is but one entirely fit place in which to present it to the hun- 
dreds of thousands who will wish to see it this year — and that is 
the Hall from which it went forth on its mission to mankind. 
6 



62 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY CELL. 



PROCEEDINGS. 

The Declaration of Independence Once More in its 
Birth-place. — By direction of the Secretary of the Interior, at 
the suggestion of President Grant, the original copy of the Decla- 
ration of Independence has been removed from Washington and 
placed in Independence Hall, where it is to remain during the Ex- 
position. The removal of the aged and valuable document was 
entrusted to the care of Mr. Alonzo Bell, chief clerk of the Interior 
Department, and yesterday morning he left Washington, having it 
in his possession, and also the original commission of Washington, 
as General-in-chief of the American Army, dated June 19, 1 775, 
and signed by John Hancock. Upon the arrival of Mr. Bell at the 
West Philadelphia depot he was met by Mr. Etting, chairman of 
the Committee on the Restoration of Independence Hall to its ori- 
ginal condition, and several other gentlemen. When the party ar- 
rived at Independence Hall there were present Mayor Stokley, J. 
L. Caven, President of Common Council, Judges Biddle and Han- 
na, Rear Admiral T. T. Turner, U. S. N., George W. Childs, John 
Russell Young, Dr. Austin, Centennial correspondent of the Lon- 
don Times, Wm. V. McKean, John L. Shoemaker, Francis F. 
Hoffman, Sergeant Price, George Junkins, Charles Henry Hart, 
Thomas Huston Bache, F. D. Stone and John Cochran and Mrs. 
Henry Wharton, Mrs. Samuel Chew and Miss Cornelia Taylor, 
representing the lady managers of the National Museum. 

Mr. Bell, on behalf of the Interior Department, presented the 
Declaration. 

I am here to-day in obedience to the instructions of the Secretary 
of the Interior, who has been directed by the President of the 
United States to deposit in Independence Hall the original Decla- 
ration of Independence, which had its birth amid scenes of strife, 
and it is brought back to-day amid evidences of peace and joy. I 
would that the signers were here to-day, that they might behold the 
fullness of the glory of the nation which they established, and see 
the completion of the work they strove so hard to maintain. 

Let us be thankful, gentlemen, that the spirit inscribed on this 
page still lives in the hearts of the American people. To this sa- 
cred spot tens of thousands will wend their way during the coming 
season to gaze upon this document, and kneel at this shrine of 
American liberty, and to pay homage to the men whose memory 
we still cherish. Let us rejoice, gentlemen, that the Republic still 
lives — lives to encircle the globe with good and freedom. 

Let this document, full of glory, which has returned like an aged 
parent to look upon the glory of the children, breathe a patriotic 
spirit upon those who see it. Thank God for this Centennial year, 
and for the hopes which come with it: for the administration of 
justice under the good President whose name will live in years to 



THE DECLARATION IN THE OLD HALL. 6$ 

come. We should be thankful for the peace that abounds at home 
and abroad, and for the rekindling of the fires of loyalty and pa- 
triotism everywhere. 

Mr. Etting then gave a brief history of the document, and said 
that beside it the city had the original draft of the Declaration 
written by Mr. Jefferson, and the copy used by John Nixon when 
he read it in the old State House yard. 

Mayor Stokley responded briefly, saying that the Declaration 
should be kept secure and well guarded. He said: "You may say 
to the President that he may rest assured that that document will be 
preserved and restored to him after the Centennial." Then, after 
alluding to the sacred character of the time and place, he closed 
his remarks, and the ceremony ended. 

The Declaration and General Washington's certificate were then 
placed in a safe manufactured expressly for their care. During the 
day the safe will be opened to allow the public a view of the Cen- 
tennial document. The words of the Declaration are badly blurred, 
and names have been almost obliterated. 

THEIR REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM. 

At this stage of our country's history the people had 
no Constitution adapted to their peculiar needs, nor 
laws to direct their civil and political actions. Their 
representative system must necessarily have been of the 
most primitive and imperfect character. There ap- 
pears to have been no regularity in the manner of 
choosing these delegates to Congress — some were 
elected by their Colonial Legislatures, some by repre- 
sentative conventions, some by the popular assemblies 
of the people, and some by county and even parish 
gatherings. Dr. Lyman Hall, the first delegate from 
Georgia, was sent by the people of the Parish of St. 
John, in Medway District, in March, 1775, and was 
admitted to a seat. May 20, 1776, he was again 
elected, with four others, by a Convention of the peo- 
ple of the Colony. 

That their appointments were revoked as readily as 
they were made, cannot admit of a doubt, in view of 
the fact that the roll of delegates in Congress was re- 
duced from seventy to fifty-five, in less than one month 
after the adoption of the Declaration, by a majority of 
the House. L. 



64 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

Extract of a Letter From Thomas Jefferson to Samuel 

A. Wells in Relation to the Adoption of the 

Declaration. 

Monticello, May 12, 1819. 

" I will now proceed to your quotation from Mr. Galloway's 
statement of what passed in Congress, on the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence in which statement there is not one word of truth, and 
where bearing some resemblance to truth, it is an entire perversion 
of it. I do not charge this on Mr. Galloway himself; his deser- 
tion having taken place long before these measures, he doubtless 
received his information from some of the loyal friends whom he 
left behind. But as yourself, as well as others, appear embarrassed 
by inconsistent accounts of the proceedings on that memorable oc- 
casion, and as those who have endeavored to restore the truth,have 
themselves committed some errors, I will give you some extracts 
from a written document on that subject; for the truth of which I 
pledge myself to heaven and earth; having, while the question of 
Independence was under consideration before Congress, taken 
written notes, in my seat, of what was passing, and reduced them 
to form on the final conclusion. I have now before me that paper, 
from which the following are extracts. " Friday, June 7th, 1 776. 
The delegates from Virginia moved, in obedience to instructions 
from their constituents, that the Congress should declare that these 
United States are, and of right ought to be, free and independent 
States ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British 
crown, and that all political connection between them and the 
state of Great Britain is, and ought to be totally dissolved ; that 
measures should be immediately taken for procuring the assistance 
of foreign powers, and a Confederation be formed to bind the colo- 
nies more closely together. The House, being obliged to attend 
at that time to some other business, the proposition was referred to 
the next day, when the members were ordered to attend punctually 
at ten o'clock. 

" Saturday, June 8th. They proceeded to take it into considera- 
tion, and referred it to a committee of the whole, into which they 
immediately resolved themselves, and passed that day in debating 
on the subject. " It appearing in the course of these debates, that 
the colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland and South Carolina, were not yet matured for falling 
from the parent stem, but th.it they were fast advancing to that 
state, it was thought most prudent to wait a while for them, and to 
postpone the final decision to July 1st. But that this might occa- 
sion as little delay as possible, a committee was appointed to pre- 
pare a Declaration of Independence. The Committee were John 
Adams, Dr. Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston and 
myself. This was reported to the House on Friday, the 28th of 



LETTER FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON. 65 

June, when it was read and ordered to lie on the table. On Mon- 
day, the 1st of July, the House resolved itself into a Committee of 
the whole, and resumed the consideration of the original motion 
made by the delegates of Virginia, which being again debated 
through the day, was carried in the affirmative by the votes of New 
Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jer- 
sey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. South 
Carolina and Pennsylvania voted against it. Delaware had but 
two members present, and they were divided. The delegates from 
New York declared they were for it themselves, and were assured 
their constituents were for it ; but that their instructions having 
been drawn near a twelve month before, when reconciliation was 
still the general object, they were enjoined by them, to do nothing 
which should impede that object. They, therefore, thought them- 
selves not justifiable in voting on either side, and asked leave to 
withdraw from the question, which was given them. The Com- 
mittee rose, and reported their resolutions to the House. 

" Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, then requested the determina- 
tion might be put off to the next day, as he believed his colleagues, 
though they disapproved of the resolution, would then join in it for 
the sake of unanimity. The ultimate question, whether the House 
would agree to the resolution of the Committee, was accordingly 
postponed till the next day, when it was again moved, and South 
Carolina concurred in voting for it. In the meantime, a third 
member had come post from the Delaware counties, and turned 
the vote of that colony in favor of the resolution. 

" Members of a different sentiment attending that morning from 
Pennsylvania also, her vote was changed; so that the whole 
twelve colonies, who were authorized to vote at ail, gave their 
votes for it; and within a few days [July 9th] the convention of 
New York approved of it, and this supplied the void occasioned 
by the withdrawing of their delegates from the vote." [Be careful 
to observe, that this vacillation and vote were on the original mo- 
tion of the 7th of June, by the Virginia delegates, that Congress 
should declare the colonies independent ] " Congress proceeded, 
the same day, to consider the Declaration of Independence, which 
had been reported and laid on the table the Friday preceding, and 
on Monday, referred to a Committee of the whole. The pusillani- 
mous idea, that we had friends in England worth keeping terms 
with, still haunted the minds of many. For this reason, those 
passages which conveyed censures on the people of England were 
struck out, lest they should give them offence. The debates hav- 
ing taken up the greater parts of the second, third, and fourth days 
of July, were, in the evening of the last, closed. The Declaration 
was reported by the Committee, agreed to by the House, and 
signed by every member present except Mr. Dickinson." So far 
my notes. Governor McKean, in his letter to McCorkle of July 

6* 



66 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

1 6th, 1817, has thrown some light on the transactions of that day ; 
but, trusting to his memory chiefly, at an age when our memories 
are not to be trusted, he has confounded two questions, and ascribed 
proceedings to one which belong to the other. The two questions 
were, 1st, the Virginia motion of June the 7th, to declare Indepen- 
dence ; the 2d, the actual Declaration itself, its matter and form as 
decided on the 1st of July; but it was the Virginia motion which 
was voted on that day in Committee of the whole ; South Carolina, 
as well as Pennsylvania, then voting against it. But the ultimate 
decision in the House, on the report of the Committee, being, by 
request, postponed to the next morning, all the states voted for it, 
except New York, whose vote was delayed for the reason before 
stated. 

It was not till the 2d of July, that the Declaration itself was 
taken up ; nor till the fourth, that it was decided, and it was 
signed by every member present, except Mr. Dickinson. The 
subsequent signatures of members who were not then present, and 
some of them not yet in office, is easily explained, if we observe 
who they were : to wit, that they were of New York and Pennsyl- 
vania. New York did not sign till the 15th, because it was not 
till the 9th (five days after the general signature) that their Con- 
vention authorized them to do so. The Convention of Pennsylva- 
nia, learning that it had been signed by a minority only of their 
delegates, named a new delegation on the 20th, leaving out Mr. 
Dickinson, who had refused to sign, Willing and Humphreys who 
had withdrawn, re-appointing the three members who had signed, 
Morris who had not been present, and five new ones, to wit : Rush, 
Clymer, Smith, Taylor and Ross : and Morris, and the five new 
members were permitted to sign, because it manifested the assent 
of their full delegation, and the express will of their Convention, 
which might have been doubted on the former signature of a mi- 
nority only. Why the signature of Thornton, of New Hampshire, 
was permitted so late as the 4th of November, I cannot now say ; 
but undoubtedly for some particular reason which we should find to 
have been good, had it been expressed. These were the only post 
signers, and you see, sir, that there were solid reasons for receiving 
those of New York and Pennsylvania, and that this circumstance 
in no wise affects the faith of this Declaratory Charter of our rights 
and of the rights of man. 

With a view to correct errors of fact before they become inveter- 
ate by reputation, I have stated what I find essentially material in 
my papers, but with that brevity, which the labor of writing con- 
strains me to use. K. 



LETTERS FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON. 67 

EXTRACTS OF A LETTER FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JAMES MADI- 
SON IN RELATION TO THE AUTHORSHIP OF 
THE DECLARATION. 

MONTICELLO, August ^Oth, 1 8 23. 

You have doubtless seen Timothy Pickering's Fourth of July ob- 
servations on the Declaration of Independence. If his principles 
and prejudices, personal and political, gave us no reason to doubt 
whether he had truly quoted the information he alleges to have re- 
ceived from Mr. Adams, I should then say, that in some of the 
particulars, Mr. Adams' memory has led him into unquestionable 
error. At the age of eighty-eight, and forty-seven years after the 
transactions of Independence, this is not wonderful. Nor should 
I, at the age of eighty, on the small advantage of that difference 
only, venture to oppose my memory to his, were it not supported 
by written notes, taken by myself at the moment on the spot. He 
says, il The committee of five, to-wit, Dr. Franklin, Sherman, Liv- 
ingston, and ourselves, met, discussed the. subject, and then ap- 
pointed him and myself to make the draught ; that we, as a sub- 
committee, met, and after the urgencies of each on the other, I con- 
sented to undertake the task; that the draught being made, we, the 
sub-committee, met, and conned the paper over, and he does not 
remember that he made or suggested a single alteration." Now 
these details are quite incorrect. The committee of five met; no 
such thing as a sub-committee was proposed, but they unanimous- 
ly pressed on myself alone to undertake the draught ; I consented ; 
I drew it ; but before I reported it to the committee, I communi- 
cated it separately to Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams, requesting their 
corrections, because they were the two members of whose judg- 
ment and amendments I wished most to have the benefit, before 
presenting it to the committee ; and you have seen the original 
paper now in my hands, with the corrections of Dr. Franklin and 
Mr. Adams interlined in their own hand writing. Their alterations 
were two or three only, and merely verbal. I then wrote a fair 
copy, reported it to the committee, and from them, unaltered, to 
Congress. This personal communication and consultation with 
Mr. Adams, he has misremembered into the actings of a sub-com- 
mittee. Pickering's observations, and Mr. Adams' in addition, 
" that it contained no new ideas, that it is a common-place compi- 
lation, its sentiments hackneyed in Congress for two years before, 
and its essence contained in Otis' pamphlet," may all be true. Of 
that I am not to be the judge. Richard Henry Lee charged it as 
copied from Locke's treatise on government. Otis' pamphlet 
I never saw, and whether I had gathered my ideas from read- 
ing or reflection, I do not know. I know only that I turned to 
neither book nor pamphlet while writing it. I did not consider it as 



63 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

any part of my charge to invent new ideas altogether, and to offer 
no sentiments which had never been expressed before. 

Had Mr. Adams been so restrained, Congress would have lost 
the benefit of his bold and impressive advocation of the rights of 
Revolution. For no man's confident and fervid addresses, more 
than Mr. Adams', encouraged and supported us through the diffi- 
culties surrounding us, which, like the ceaseless action of gravity, 
weighed on us by night and by day. Yet, on the same ground, we 
may ask what of these elevated thoughts was new, or can be affirmed 
never before to have entered the conceptions of man ? Whether, 
also, the sentiments of Independence, and the reasons for declaring 
it, which make so great a portion of the instrument, had been hack- 
neyed in Congress for two years before the 4th of July, he, or this 
dictum also of Mr. Adams, be another slip of memory, let history 
say. This, however, I will say for Mr. Adams, that he supported 
the Declaration with zeal and ability, fighting fearlessly for every 
word of it. As to myself, I thought it a duty to be, on that occa- 
sion, a passive auditor of the opinions of others, more impartial 
judges than I could be, of its merits or demerits. 

During the debate I was sitting by Dr. Franklin, and he observed 
that I was writhing a little under the acrimonious criticisms on 
some of the parts ; and it was on that occasion, that by way of com- 
fort, he told me the story of John Thompson, the hatter, and his 
new sign. Timothy thinks the instrument the better of having a 
fourth of it expunged. He would have thought it still better, had 
the other three-fourths gone out also, all but the single sentiment 
(the only one he approves), which recommends friendship to his 
dear England, whenever she is willing to be at peace with us. 

His insinuations are, that although " the high tone of the instru- 
ment was in unison with the warm feelings of the times, this senti- 
ment of habitual friendship to England should never be forgotten, 
and that the duties it enjoins should especially be borne in mind on 
every celebration of this anniversary. In other words, that the 
Declaration, as being a libel on the government of England, com- 
posed in times of passion, should now be buried in utter oblivion, 
to spare the feelings of our English friends and Anglomen fellow- 
citizens. But it is not to wound them that we wish to keep it in 
mind; but to cherish the principles of the instrument in the bosoms 
of our own citizens : and it is a heavenly comfort to see that these 
principles are yet so strongly felt, as to render a circumstance so 
trifling as this little lapse of memory of Mr. Adams," worthy of 
being solemnly announced and supported at an anniversary assem- 
blage of the nation on its birth-day. In opposition, however, to 
Mr. Pickering, I pray God that these principles may be eternal, 
and close the prayer with my affectionate wishes for yourself of long 
life, health and happiness. K. 



LETTERS FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON. 69 

The Declaration of Independence was drafted at the 
private lodgings of Mr. Jefferson, in the house of Jacob 
Graff, still standing at the South-west corner of Seventh 
and Market streets. He says, " I rented the second 
floor, consisting of a parlor and bed-room ready fur- 
nished. In that parlor I wrote habitually, and in it 
wrote this paper particularly." 

A recent Magazine writer has disputed the honor of 
this house, of affording shelter and comfort to the great 
statesman, while he penned the immortal document, 
and confers it on the next house, west, on Market street, 
No. 702, alleging that there was no house on the corner 
at that time. It is presumable that Mr. Jefferson knew 
where he lived, and could distinguish between a corner 
and other property. 

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO JOHN ADAMS, 
IN RELATION TO JOHN JAY, OF NEW YORK 

September 4, 1823. 
" I observe your toast of Mr. Jay on the 4th of July, wherein you 
say that the omission of his signature to the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was by accident. Our impressions as to this fact being 
different, I shall be glad to have mine corrected, if wrong. Jay, 
you know, had been in constant opposition to our laboring majori- 
ty. Our estimate at the time was, that he, Dickinson and Johnson, 
of Maryland, by their ingenuity, perseverance and partiality to our 
English connection, had constantly kept us a year behind where we 
ought to have been in our preparations and proceedings. From 
about the date of the Virginia instructions of May the 15th, 1 776, ' 
to declare Independence, Mr. Jay absented himself from Congress, 
and never came there again until December, 1 778. Of course, he 
had no part in the discussions or decision of that question. The 
instructions to their Delegates by the Convention of New York, 
then sitting, to sign the Declaration, were presented to Congress on 
the 15th of July only, and on that day the journals show the 
absence of Mr. Jay, by a letter received from him, as they had done 
as early as the 29th of May, by another letter. And I think he had 
been omitted by the convention on a new election of Delegates, 
when they changed their instructions. Of this last fact, however, 
having no evidence but an ancient impression, I shall not affirm it. 
But whether so or not, no agency of accident appears in the case. 
This error of fact, however, whether yours or mine, is of little con- 
sequence to the public. K. 



70 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER OF JOHN ADAMS TO ABIGAIL HIS WIFE, 
IN RELATION TO THE STATE OF THE CAUSE OF INDEPENDENCE. 

July^d, 1776. 

" Had a Declaration of Independency been made seven months 
ago, it would have been attended with many great and glorious 
effects. We might, before this hour, have formed alliances with 
foreign states. We should have mastered Quebec, and been in 
possession of Canada. 

You will perhaps wonder how such a declaration would have in- 
fluenced our affairs in Canada, but if I could write with freedom, I 
could easily convince you that it would, and explain to you the 
manner how. Many gentlemen in high stations, and of great in- 
fluence, have been duped by the ministerial bubble of Commission- 
ers to treat. And in real, sincere expectation of this event, which 
they so fondly wished, they have been slow and languid in promo- 
ting measures for the reduction of that province. Others there are 
in the Colonies who really wished that our enterprise in Canada 
would be defeated, that the Colonies might be brought into danger 
and distress between two fires, and be thus induced to submit. 
Others really wished to defeat the expedition to Canada, lest the 
conquest of it should elevate the minds of the people too much to 
hearken to those terms of reconciliation which, they believed, would 
be offered us. 

These jarring views, wishes, and designs occasioned an opposi- 
tion to many salutary measures which were proposed for the support 
of that expedition, and caused obstructions, embarrassments, and 
studied delays, which have finally lost us the province. 

All these causes, however, in conjunction, would not have dis- 
appointed us, if it had not been for a misfortune which could not 
be foreseen, and perhaps could not have been prevented; I mean 
the prevalence of the small-pox among our troops. This fatal pes- 
tilence completed our destruction. It is a frown of Providence 
upon us, which we ought to lay to heart. But, on the other hand, 
the delay of this Declaration to this time has many great advantages 
attending it. The hopes of reconciliation which were fondly en- 
tertained by multitudes of honest and well-meaning, though weak 
and mistaken people, have been gradually, and at last totally ex- 
tinguished. 

Time has been given for the whole people maturely to consider 
the great question of independence, and to ripen their judgment, 
dissipate their fears, and allure their hopes, by discussing it in news- 
papers and pamphlets, by debating it in assemblies, conventions, 
committees of safety and inspection, in town and county meetings, 
as well as in private conversations, so that the whole people, in 
every Colony of the thirteen, have now adopted it as their own act. 
This will cement the union, and avoid those heats, and perhaps 



REPRESENTATIVE CODIES. 



71 



convulsions, which might have been occasioned by such a Declara- 
tion six months ago. But the day is past. The second day of 
July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of 
America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeed- 
ing generations as the great anniversary festival. 

It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by 
solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. 

It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, 
games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end 
of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore. 

You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. 
I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost 
us to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these 
States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing 
light and glory. I can see that the end is more than all the means. 
And that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even 
although we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not. 

K. 



Mr. Adams was clearly under the impression, that 
the dying throes of the old regime, instead of the ani- 
mating and life-inspiring shouts of the new, would be 
made the occasion for national festivities and jollifica- 
tion, and that the 2d instead of the 4th day of July 
would be celebrated forever as the great national holi- 
day. 

COLONIAL LEGISLATURES, CONVENTIONS, COMMITTEES OR 

COUNCILS OF SAFETY AND COMMITTEE OF 

CORRESPONDENCE, 

The representative bodies of the colonies, which con- 
stituted the legislative branches of Colonial Govern- 
ment, were distinguished by various appellations, as 
Legislatures, Local Congresses, House of Delegates, 
the House of Burgesses, &c. Most of them consisted 
of the one House, others of two. In New Hampshire, 
they had their House of Representatives and a Council, 
in imitation of the form observed in Great Britain, 
which embraces the House of Lords and the House of 
Commons. 

These bodies were generally appointed or elected an- 



72 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

nually by the people, or by Conventions of the people, 
held annually for that purpose. 

The executive branches consisted of Governors ap- 
pointed by the British Government and were the repre- 
sentatives of the crown, and were of co-ordinate juris- 
diction, with the Legislatures in the enacting and exe- 
cution of the Colonial laws. The governors possessing 
the negative could veto any law enacted by the repre- 
sentatives of the people, that was not in the interest of 
the parent government, thus rendering nugatory every 
enactment that was intended to benefit the people, 
which did not equally promote the interest of the 
Crown. And moreover, if the Legislatures became re- 
fractory, and disregarded the will of the Executive, the 
latter had the power of dissolving the former, as was 
done by the royal governor of Virginia, and attempted 
by Governor Gage of Massachusetts. And further, the 
members of the different Legislatures having sworn to sup- 
port the English Constitution, and to obey the Colonial 
laws enacted under it, they could not, if they wished, 
extend that aid and support to the Continental Congress, 
for carrying on the war, and furthering other measures 
hostile to the home government that were involved in 
the struggle for independence. After the Declaration 
was adopted, and promulgated, absolving all former al- 
legiance with the British crown, they felt themselves at 
liberty to act in conjunction with Congress, in estab- 
lishing and supporting the new Government. 

Previously to this event, Congress aware of their ina- 
bility to derive the necessary support from the Colonial 
government, under the then existing circumstances, re- 
quested the Colonies to call Conventions and appoint 

COMMITTEES OP COUNCILS OF SAFETY, 

to act outside of the British Constitution and indepen- 
dent of the Royal Governors, and to assume national 
legislative duties, so far as the exigencies of the war, 
and independence were concerned, as raising revenue, 
instituting protections against home enemies, organiz- 
ing the militia, &c., &c. 



REPRESENTATIVE BODIES. 73 

There being no constitution, no articles of Confeder- 
ation to compel the Colonies to obey the behests of 
Congress, or bind them together, the compliance with 
this arrangement was wholly voluntary, on the part of 
the Colonists, and imbued with a deep patriotic feeling, 
and a high sense of moral and political obligations, 
most nobly did they respond to the request, and sus- 
tained their Congressional delegates, through the dark- 
est days of their struggles for independence and nation- 
al freedom. 

These Committees of Safety, consisted generally of 
but few members, compared with their Legislative 
bodies, but they were composed of the most patriotic, 
and ablest men of the Colonies, men who enjoyed pub- 
lic confidence, and labored for the public good. As 
their proceedings were conducted in good faith, their 
transactions were received by the people, in a similar 
spirit, and their requirements cheerfully complied with, 
and promptly executed. 

COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE. 

"That powerful engine of resistance," as Mr. Jeffer- 
son terms it, originated in the House of Burgesses of 
Virginia, in March 1773, though Belisle in his biography 
of Richard Henry Lee makes it 1778. Jefferson, in a 
letter to Samuel A. Wells, says : " Our Committee for 
National Correspondence, was appointed in March, 
— 73." In Wirt's History of Patrick Henry, page 87, 
we find the following, which we reproduce not only to 
fix the time of its origination, but to give the reader a de- 
finite idea of the nature and objects of these Commi- 
tees. 

In the House of Burgesses of Virginia, March 12, 1773. 

Whereas, the minds of his majesty's faithful subjects, in this 
Colony have been much disturbed, by various rumors, and reports 
of proceedings tending to deprive them of their ancient, legal, and 
constitutional rights. 

And whereas the affairs of this Colony are frequently connected 
with those of Great Britain, as well as the neighboring Colonies, 
which under a communication of sentiment necessary ; in order 

7 



74 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

therefore to remove the uneasiness, and so quiet the minds of the 
people, as well as for other good purposes, above mentioned, Be it 

Resolved, That a standing Committee of Correspondence and 
inquiry be appointed to consist of eleven persons, to wit: Peyton 
Randolph, R. C. Nicholas, R. Bland, Richard Henry Lee, Ben- 
jamin Harrison, Edward Pendleton, Patrick Henry, D. Digges, D. 
Carr, A. Cary, and Thomas Jefferson, any six of whom to be 
early and authentic intelligence of all such acts and resolutions of 
the British Parliament, or proceedings of administration as may 
relate to, or affect the British Colonies in America, and to keep up 
and maintain a correspondence and communication with our Sister 
Colonies, respecting those important considerations : and the re- 
sults of such proceedings, from time to time, to lay before this 
house. 

Resolved, That it be an instruction of the said Committee, that 
they do without delay, inform themselves, particularly of the prin- 
ciples and authority on which was constituted a court of inquiry, 
said to have been lately held, in Rhode Island with power to 
transport persons accused of offences committed in America, to 
places beyond the seas to be tried." 

It has been claimed that Massachusetts, at the insti- 
gation of Samuel Adams, was the first to institute this 
system of communication. But the evidence in favor 
of the priority of Virginia is conclusive. Massachu- 
setts, however, preceded Virginia, according to Mr. 
Jefferson, in establishing a similar system of correspon- 
dence, applied only to her own interior, that is, between 
her different Counties and towns ; this Committee was 
appointed by the people ; while the Committee of Cor- 
respondence designed for inter-colonial communication 
was chosen by the House of Assembly and succeeded that 
appointed by the House of Burgesses of Virginia. 

Intelligence, that required dispatch in its transmis- 
sion, from one Colony to another, or to the General 
Congress, was conveyed by means of express messen- 
gers. Steam and electricity had not then been brought 
into requisition to perform such services. 

Dispatches from the Committee, of Virginia, espe- 
cially those relating to foreign affairs, soon acquired a 
high reputation for accuracy and reliability. Dr. Ar- 
thur Lee, who was residing in England at that time, a 
gentleman of distinguished literary acquirements, and 



EVENTS OF 1776. 75 

upon terms of intimacy with many of the leading men 
of the country, availed himself of the facilities thus 
afforded, for acquiring information of the action of the 
British Government in relation to the affairs of the 
Colonies, and by frequent communication with his 
brother, Richard Henry Lee, kept him advised of the 
doings of Parliament. Information thus obtained, 
would be, at once, forwarded to Congress and the other 
Colonies, and in this way the whole country was kept 
apprized of the opinions and projects of Parliament be- 
fore they were transacted, and thus was obviated sur- 
prise at any sudden movement, designed to defeat their 
object or frustrate their purposes. 

The Committee of Correspondence of each of the 
other Colonies, was equally vigilant in acquiring and 
dispatching such information as was considered of value 
to the common cause. 

To Richard Henry Lee belongs the credit of having 
suggested the institution of this " powerful engine of 
defence." L. 

MISCELLANY. 

EVENTS OF 1776. 

Norfolk burned. 

Americans evacuated Canada. 

British evacuated Boston. 

British attacked Charleston. 

Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia. 

British took possession of Staten Island. 

Battle of Long Island. 

British defeated at Harlem Plains. 

Battle of White Plains. 

Fort Lee abandoned by the Americans. 

Washington retreats across to New Jersey. 

Battle of Trenton. 

THE HISTORY OF OUR FLAG. 

Every nation has its flag. Every ship in foreign 
waters is known by the colors she shows at her peak. 



7 6 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

The French frigate hoists her bunting of three vertical 
stripes, the red, white, and blue, the English man-of-war 
shows a red flag, with the crosses of St. Andrew and St. 
George on a blue union in the upper left hand corner ; 
and the Austrian, a double-headed black eagle, on a 
yellow ground — every nation with a name and a 
place, having its own appropriate symbol. 

When we were colonies of England, we sailed and 
fought under her flag. Twenty years before the Revo- 
lution, when we were at war with the French and their 
allies the Indians, many a brave man in some hot skirmish 
with the Indians would have welcomed the sight of the 
red flag of England — it would mean aid and comfort 
when sorely oppressed. 

But the time was coming when he was to hate it as 
much as he had hated the French colors. The time 
was coming when the sight of it was to mean oppression 
and tyranny to him, and every feeling of his nature 
would be aroused against it. Every child knows how 
we finally rebelled ; it was nothing less, and, to Eng- 
land, our George Washington was merely a leading 
rebel. It was a bold proceeding. We were thirteen 
little States, fringed along on the Atlantic coast, with 
the unbroken forest behind us, and among the great 
family of nations we had neither place nor name. We 
were like the last new boy at a public school — we had 
to fight to obtain due respect from all the great old na- 
tions who were looking on. 

Of course we had no flag ; we had to earn that too. 
For a year or two our privateers carried the Massachu- 
setts State flag. It was better, they thought, than the 
English flag at any rate. The field was of white bunt- 
ing ; in the middle, a green pine tree ; and on the op- 
posite side the motto, "Appeal to Heaven." 

Washington in his character of General-in-Chief, 
commissioned several privateer schooners, and they all 
carried this flag. 

The Alfred was one of the few large ships we had ; 
and she carried the pine-tree flag, and beside that, one 



THE HISTORY OF OUR FLAG. 77 

with thirteen stripes, in red and white, but with no 
stars ; while on the stripes was coiled a rattle-snake ; 
with the motto, "Don't tread on me." The rattle- 
snake being found only in America, there was, of 
course, a peculiar incaning in this emblem. 

In the early part of the Revolution, some of the 
South Carolina regiments carried the palmetto tree on 
their flag. That was a very good symbol, and the State 
yet keeps it on her coat of arms ; though it grows 
everywhere in the South. The palmetto logs at Fort 
Moultrie were found very good things to receive can- 
non balls, when that fort was besieged by the British in 
1776. 

There was this multiplicity of flags, because we did 
not clearly know what we were. No nation had ac- 
knowledged us as belonging to their great family yet ; 
in fact, we had not quite cut loose from England, yet 
we were fighting her with all our might, and it seemed 
absurd to be under her colors. In the fight at Bunker 
Hill, the flag planted in the corner of that famous re- 
doubt was of blue bunting, with the cross of St. George 
in red in the corner, and a pine-tree, that same pine- 
tree ; in the upper right-hand quarter of the cross. 

Our army at Cambridge celebrated New Year's Day, 
January 1st, 1776, not as the Chinese, by firing crackers 
and illuminating lanterns in the evening, nor yet by 
making calls, but by unfurling for the first time in an 
American camp the flag of thirteen stripes. But even 
then we had not declared ourselves independent of 
Great Britain, and this flag had the British union in 
one corner, and the crosses of St. Andrew and St. 
George. 

Finally, on the 14th of July, 1776, Congress, which 
then met in Philadelphia, settled upon our style of flag. 
" It shall have," said they, ''thirteen stripes, alternate 
red and white, and the union of the States shall be in- 
dicated by thirteen stars, white, in a blue field, repre- 
senting a new constellation." 

It was not until about forty years ago that it was de- 

7* 



78 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

cided to add another star for every new State as it 
joined the Union. So that the constellation as it is 
now, with nearly forty stars in it, has grown a good 
deal from the original thirteen. But the stripes still re- 
main the same in number, to remind us of the first little 
band of States who " fought it out " against Great Bri- 
tain. — Kate Foote, in St. Nicholas for July. 



SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF 
INDEPENDENCE. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

We are largely indebted to Thomas' Universal Pro- 
nouncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology, 
Belisle's History, Hayward's History of New Eng- 
land, etc., for the material from which the following 
sketches are drawn : 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Josiah Bartlett, M. D., Physician. Born at Ames- 
bury, Massachusetts, in 1729. He was appointed a 
delegate to the second Continental Congress, February 
29, 1776. He was appointed Chief Justice of Common 
Pleas in 1779, and soon after Chief Justice of the Supe- 
rior Court of New Hampshire. In 1790 he became 
President of New Hampshire, and in 1793 was chosen 
the first Governor under the new Constitution. He 
died May 19th, 1795, in the 66th year of his age. 

William Whipple, Seaman and Merchant. Born at 
Kittery, Maine, in 1730. He was elected to Congress 
February 29, 1776, was appointed Brigadier-General in 
1777, and participated in the battles of Stillwater and 
Saratoga, and in the siege of Newport. Died in 1785, 
a g ed 55 Y ears - 

Mathew Thornton, Physician. Born in Ireland in 
1 714. Was elected to the General Congress from New 
Hampshire, November 4, 1776. Died in 1803, aged 
89 years. 

MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 

Samuel Adams, Merchant and Politician, a distin- 
guished statesman and orator, was born in Boston, Sep- 
tember 27th, 1722. Was elected a member of the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Massachusetts in 1765, and continued 
a member for nine years. Was elected a member of 

79 



80 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

the Continental Congress, 1774, and continued a mem- 
ber for eight years. He participated in the formation 
of the Massachusetts Constitution adopted in 1780. 
He served afterwards as a Senator of that State, and 
was a member of the Convention which ratified the 
Federal Constitution in 1787. He was Lieutenant- 
Governor from 1789 to 1794, and in 1795 succeeded 
John Hancock as Governor of Massachusetts. Having 
been elected several times, he served as Governor until 
1797, and then retired from public life. He died in 
Boston on the 2d of October, 1803, aged 81 years. In 
national politics he favored the Republican, or Jef- 
fersonian party. By his courage, talents and energy he 
acquired great influence as a political leader. 

John Adams, Lawyer. Born in Braintree (now 
Quincy), Massachusetts, October 10th, 1735, O. S. 
He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1758. 
He was elected a member of the General Court, (/. e. 
the Legislature), in 1770. " It was not as a politician," 
says Charles Francis Adams, "but as a lawyer, that 
John Adams was first drawn into public life." He be- 
came the chief legal adviser of the Patriots. The de- 
struction of the tea in the harbor of Boston, December, 
1773, opened the active drama of the revolution by a 
resort to physical force. 

Mr. Adams was one of the five delegates sent by Mas- 
sachusetts to the first Continental Congress which met 
at Philadelphia, September 4th, 1774. To his friend 
Sewall, who urged him not to engage in the perilous 
enterprise of revolution, he replied, "The die is now 
cast ; I have passed the Rubicon ; sink or swim, live or 
die, survive or perish with my country, is my unaltera- 
ble determination." He was re-elected to Congress 
February 9, 1776. He seconded the resolution of 
Richard Henry Lee, that these Colonies "are, and of 
right ought to be, free and independent States." He 
was one of the committee appointed to prepare a 
Declaration of Independence. Jefferson said of him, 
" John Adams was the ablest advocate and champion of 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 8 1 

independence on the floor of the House. He was the 
colossus of that Congress. Not graceful, not eloquent, 
not always fluent in his public addresses, he yet came 
out with a power of thought and expression which 
moved his hearers from their seats." 

Mr. Adams was the President, or Chairman, of the 
Board of War appointed in June, 1776. He was also 
Chairman of twenty-five Committees of Congress. He 
was appointed Commissioner to France in November, 
1777, and arrived in Paris in April, 1778, only to learn 
that a treaty between France and the United States had 
already been concluded by Dr. Franklin, and returned 
to the United States in July, 1779. In the following 
autumn he served in the Convention which formed a 
new Constitution for Massachusetts. In the same year 
he was appointed Minister to negotiate a treaty of peace 
and commerce with Great Britain. He was, while in 
Europe, authorized to act as Minister to Holland. The 
preliminary articles of the negotiation with Great Bri- 
tain were signed by the joint Committee, consisting of 
Adams, Franklin, Jay and Laurens, November 30, 
1782. The account that Mr. Adams gives, in a letter 
to a friend, of his introduction to George III., at the 
Court of St. James, as the first Minister from the rebel 
Colonies, is very interesting. The scene would form a 
noble picture, highly honorable both to His Majesty' 
and the Republican Minister. Here stood the stern 
Monarch, who had expended more than six hundred 
millions of dollars, and the lives of two hundred thou- 
sand of his subjects in a vain attempt to subjugate free- 
men ; and by his side stood the man who, in the lan- 
guage of Jefferson, "was the great pillar of support to 
the Declaration of Independence, and its ablest advo- 
cate and champion on the floor of Congress." Mr. 
Adams says, "At one o'clock on Wednesday, the 1st of 
June, 1785, the Minister of Ceremonies called at my 
house, and went with me to the Secretary of State's 
office, in Cleaveland Row, where the Marquis of Car- 
marthen received and introduced me to Mr. Frazier, his 



82 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

under Secretary, who had been, as his Lordship said, 
uninterruptedly in that office through all the changes in 
Administration for thirty years. After a short conver- 
sation, Lord Carmarthen invited me to go with him in 
his coach to Court. When we arrived in the ante- 
chamber, the Master of Ceremonies introduced him and 
attended me while the Secretary of State went to take 
the commands of the King. While I stood in this place, 
where it seems all Ministers stand upon such occasions, 
always attended by the Master of Ceremonies, the room 
was very full of Ministers of State, Bishops, and all 
other sorts of courtiers, as well as the next room, which 
is the King's bed-chamber. You may well suppose I 
was the focus of all eyes. I was relieved, however, 
from the embarrassment of it, by the Swedish and 
Dutch Ministers, who came to me and entertained me 
with a very agreeable conversation during the whole 
time. Some other gentlemen, whom I had seen before, 
came to make their compliments to me, until the Mar- 
quis of Carmarthen returned, and desired me to go with 
him to His Majesty. I went with his Lordship through 
the levee-room into the King's closet. The door was 
shut, and I was left with His Majesty and the Secretary 
of State alone. I made the three reverences — one at 
the door, another about half way, and another before 
the presence, according to the usage established at this 
and all the northern Courts of Europe, and then I ad- 
dressed myself to His Majesty in the following words : 
1 Sire : The United States have appointed me Minister 
Plenipotentiary to your Majesty, and have directed me 
to deliver to your Majesty this letter, which contains the 
evidence of it. It is in obedience to their express com- 
mands, that I have the honor to assure your Majesty of 
their unanimous disposition and desire to cultivate the 
most friendly and liberal intercourse between your Ma- 
jesty's subjects and their citizens, and of their best 
wishes for your Majesty's health and happiness, and for 
that of your family. The appointment of a Minister 
from the United States to your Majesty's Court will 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 83 

form an epoch in the history of England and America. 
I think myself more fortunate than all my fellow-citi- 
zens, in having the distinguished honor to be the first 
to stand in your Majesty's royal presence in a diplo- 
matic character ; and I shall esteem myself the happi- 
est of men if I can be instrumental in recommending 
my country more and more to your Majesty's royal be- 
nevolence, and of restoring an entire esteem, confi- 
dence and affection ; or, in better words, * the old good 
nature and the good old humor,' between people who, 
though separated by an ocean, and under different gov- 
ernments, have the same language, a similar religion, a 
kindred blood. I beg your Majesty's permission to 
add, that although I have sometimes before been in- 
structed by my country, it was never in my whole life 
in a manner so agreeable to myself. ' The King listened 
to every word I said, with dignity, it is true, but with 
apparent emotion. Whether it was my visible agita- 
tion, for I felt more than I could express, that touched 
him, I cannot say ; but he was much affected, and an- 
swered me with more tremor than I had spoken with, 
and said : ' Sir, The circumstances of this audience are 
so extraordinary, the language you have now held is so 
extremely proper, and the feelings you have discovered 
so justly adapted to the occasion, that I not only re- 
ceive with pleasure the assurance of the friendly dispo- 
sition of the United States, but that I am glad the 
choice has fallen upon you to be their Minister. I wish 
you, sir, to believe, and that it may be understood in 
America, that I have done nothing in this contest but 
what I thought myself indispensably bound to do, by 
the duty which I owed my people. I will be frank 
with you. I was the last to conform to the separation ; 
but the separation having become inevitable, I have 
always said, as I now say, that I would be the first to 
meet the friendship of the United States as an inde- 
pendent Power. The moment I see such sentiments 
and language as yours prevail, and a disposition to give 
this country the preference, that moment I shall say — 



84 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

let the circumstances of language, religion and blood 
have their natural, full effect. ' I dare not say that 
these were the King's precise words; and it is even pos- 
sible that I may have, in some particulars, mistaken his 
meaning ; for although his pronunciation is as distinct 
as I ever heard, he hesitated sometimes between mem- 
bers of the same period. He was, indeed, much af- 
fected, and I was not less so, and therefore I cannot hi 
certain that I was so attentive, heard so clearly, and 
understood so perfectly, as to be confident of all his 
words or sense. This I do say, that the foregoing is 
His Majesty's meaning, as I then understood it, and 
his own words, as nearly as I can recollect them. The 
King then asked me whether I came last from France ; 
and upon my answering in the affirmative, he put on 
an air of familiarity, and, smiling, or rather laughing, 
said, 'There is an opinion among some people, that 
you are not the most attached of all your countrymen 
to the manners of France ?' I was surprised at this, be- 
cause I thought it an indiscretion, and a descent from 
his dignity. I was a little embarrassed, but determined 
not to deny the truth on the one hand, nor lead him to 
infer from it any attachment to England on the other ; 
I threw off as much gravity as I could and assumed an 
air of gayety and a tone of decision, as far as was de- 
cent, and said, 'That opinion, sir, is not mistaken; I 
must avow to your Majesty, I have no attachment but 
to my own country ! The king replied as quick as 
lightning, 'An honest man will never have any other.' 
The King then said a word or two to the Secretary of 
State, which being between them I did not hear, and 
then turned round and bowed to me, as is customary 
with all kings and princes when they give the signal to 
retire. I retreated, stepping backwards, as is etiquette, 
and making my last reverence at the door of the cham- 
ber, I went to my carriage." — Haywanf s History of 
New England. 

He was Minister at London from May, 1785, until 
the spring of 1788. In 1789, when Washington was 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 85 

inaugurated President, Adams became Vice President. 
He was identified with the Federal Party, and by them 
was again elected Vice President in 1792. In the first 
Congress he gave no less than twenty casting votes, all 
on points of importance in the organic laws, and thus 
rendered an efficient support to the policy of Wash- 
ington. 

In 1796, John Adams and Thomas Pinckney were 
nominated by the Federalists for the office of President 
and Vice President. The canvass resulted in the elec- 
tion of Adams for President and Jefferson for Vice 
President, the latter being the Republican candidate 
for President. As President, Adams retained the Cabi- 
net Ministers appointed by Washington. 

Some of his official acts rendered his Administration 
not entirely satisfactory to his party. In the Presiden- 
tial contest of 1800 he was again the Federal candi- 
date, and received sixty-five electoral votes, but was de- 
feated by Thomas Jefferson, the Republican candidate, 
who received seventy-three votes. 

In March, 1801, he retired from public life, with the 
luster of his former glory tarnished, and his exalted 
reputation as a leading statesman somewhat impaired. 
A reaction of public sentiment, however, gradually took 
place in his favor, and after his withdrawal from politi- 
cal life, his faults were almost lost sight of in the re- 
membrance of his many inestimable public services. 
He lived to see his son, John Quincy Adams, elected 
President of the United States, and died at Quincy, 
July 4th, 1826, aged 90 years, 8 months and 24 days. 

John Hancock, Merchant, was born in Quincy, 
Massachusetts, January 12, 1737. He was chosen a 
member of the House of Representatives of Massachu- 
setts in 1766, became a bold asserter of liberty, and 
was President of the Provincial Congress, 1774. In 
June, 1775, Governor Gage offered to pardon all the 
rebels except Samuel Adams and John Hancock. He 
was chosen President of the Continental Congress in 
1775. Having resigned his seat in Congress on ac- 
8 



86 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

count of ill health, October, 1777, he was elected Gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts in 1780. He was a very popu- 
lar Governor, and was annually re-elected, except for 
the years 1785 and 1786, until his death. His elo- 
quence, his affable disposition, and his polished man- 
ners rendered him a general favorite. As a presiding 
officer, he was dignified and very successful. He died 
in October, 1793, a g e d 56 years. 

Robert Treat Paine, Teacher, Lawyer and Jurist, 
was born at Boston in 1731. He was a member of 
Congress for about four years, from 1774 to 1778. In 
1780 he was one of the Committee which formed the 
State Constitution of Massachusetts, and in 1790 be- 
came Judge of the Supreme Court of that State. He 
died in 1814, aged 83. 

Elbridge Gerry, Merchant, was born at Marble- 
head, Massachusetts, July 17, 1744. He was elected 
to the Legislature of Massachusetts in 1772, and soon 
became a prominent political leader. Having been 
chosen a member of the Continental Congress, Februa- 
ry 9, 1776, he was placed on several important Com- 
mittees. He became Chairman of the Treasury Board 
in 1780, and was a member of the Convention which, 
in 1787, formed the Federal Constitution. Not agree- 
ing with some of its leading features, he refused to sign 
it ; nevertheless, after it became the fundamental basis 
of the Government, he did all within his power and in- 
fluence to carry out its provisions, and under it, about 
1 790, he was again elected to Congress, from which he 
retired in 1795, an d was on a mission to France in 
1797 with Gen. Pinckney and Mr. Marshall. On his 
return he joined the Democratic Party, by whom he 
was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1810. He 
was elected Vice President of the United States in 
1 81 2, when Madison was chosen President. He died 
November 23d, 1814, aged 70 years. 

RHODE ISLAND. 

Stephen Hopkins, Farmer and Merchant, was born 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 87 

at Scituate, (County of Providence,) Rhode Island, 
March 7th, 1707. In 1732 he was chosen a representa- 
tive in the General Assembly, and was rechosen, annu- 
ally, until 1738. He was again elected in 1741, and 
was chosen Speaker of the House, from which time 
until 1 75 1, he was almost every year a member and 
speaker of the Assembly. He was, from 1751 to 1754, 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Colony. He 
was elected Governor of Rhode Island in 1756, and 
continued in that office almost continuously, until 1767. 
In 1774 he was elected to Congress. In this year he 
held three offices of great responsibility, which were 
conferred upon him by the patriots, viz. : Chief Justice 
of the Colony, representative of the Provincial Assem- 
bly, and delegate to the Continental Congress. He 
was again elected to Congress, May 14th, 1776. The 
unsteadiness of his hand, as indicated by his signature 
upon the Declaration, says his biographer, was not oc- 
casioned by fear, but by a nervous affection, with which 
he was afflicted. He continued in Congress until 1779. 
He died July 19, 1785, aged 78 years. 

William Ellery, Merchant and Lawyer, was born at 
Newport, Rhode Island, December 22, 1727. He was 
engaged in mercantile pursuits in his native city for 
some years, and began the practice of the law in 1770. 
He was with Stephen Hopkins elected to Congress, 
May 14, 1776. Placing himself by the side of Secre- 
tary Thompson, he observed the expression and manner 
of each member in the act of signing his name, and was 
convinced that the men were equal to the crisis. He 
continued to serve in Congress, with the exception of 
two years, until the end of 1785, being rather eminent 
for his talents for business than for his powers as de- 
bater. Retiring from public service in 1785, he found 
himself reduced in fortune by his patriotism, as his 
dwelling had been burnt by the enemy. In 1790 he 
was appointed to the office of collector of customs in 
Newport, which he retained to the end of his life. His 
political sympathies were with the Federal party. He 
died February 15, 1820, aged 92 years. 



88 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Roger Sherman, Shoemaker and Lawyer, was born at 
Newton, Massachusetts, on the 19th of April, 1721. He 
worked at the trade of shoemaker in his youth, removed 
to New Milford, Connecticut, in 1743, and soon after 
became a partner of his brother, who was a merchant. 
He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1754, and 
settled at New Haven, 1761. About 1765 was appointed" 
Judge of the Superior Court or Common Pleas. He 
was elected a member of the General Congress in 1774, 
and was again elected January 16, 1776. He continued 
to serve, consecutively, in that body for nineteen years. 
There is an anecdote related of him, illustrative of his 
aptness at retort under sarcasm. John Randolph, of 
Roanoke, celebrated for his keenness of satire in debate, 
prided himself on being a lineal descendant of Pocahon- 
tas, daughter of Powhatan, an Indian chief of Virginia, 
who saved the life of Captain Smith, condemned to 
death by her father, at the early settlement of James- 
town. On a certain occasion when the debate on the 
floor of Congress waxed warm, Mr. Randolph, alluding 
to Mr. Sherman, exultingly inquired, " What did the 
gentleman from Connecticut do with his leather apron, 
when he threw it off to come to Congress?" Mr. Sher- 
man at once retorted, that "he cut it up to make moc- 
casins for the descendants of Pocahontas." He was a 
member of the Convention which framed the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, 1787. He was a member of 
the State Senate. He was elected United States 
Senator 1791. He died July 23, 1793, aged 72 years. 

Oliver Wolcott, Physician, was born in the town 
of Windsor, Connecticut, November 26, 1726. He was 
elected to Congress in 1774, and again elected January 
16, 1776, and became Governor of Connecticut in 1796. 
He filled several posts of trust and honor in his native 
State. From the latter part of 1776 to 1783, he was 
alternately engaged in civil and military duties, and oc- 
casionally occupied his place in Congress — he was in 
that body during its migratory peregrinations to Balti- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 89 

more, Md., and Lancaster and York, Penna. — flying 
before the advancing forces of Lord Cornwallis and Gen. 
Howe, upon Philadelphia in 1777. He died December 
1, 1797, in the seventy-second year of his age. 

William Williams, Theological Student and Mer- 
chant, was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, April 18, 
1 73 1. He was elected to the Continental Congress, 
January 16, 1776, and died August 2, 181 1, aged 81 years. 

Samuel Huntington, Lawyer, was born July 2, 1732. 
In 1764 he was chosen a member of the Assembly of 
Connecticut, and the following year made a member of 
Council. In 1 7 74 he was made an Associate Judge of the 
Superior Court, and January 16, 1776, was appointed a 
delegate to Congress. He continued a member of that 
body for nearly five consecutive years. In 1779 he was 
appointed President of Congress — at that time the 
highest office in the country. He held this position 
until he was obliged to resign, on account of ill-health. 
1783 he again took his seat in Congress, but left it 
again in November of the same year, and was appointed 
Lieutenant Governor. He was elected Governor in 
1786 — which office he held until his death, which oc- 
curred at Norwich, January 5, 1796, in the 64th year 
of his age. 

NEW YORK. 

William Floyd, Gentleman, was born in Suffolk 
county, New York, December 17, 1734. He was 
chosen in 1774 a delegate to the first Continental Con- 
gress. He was again elected May 11, 1776, and con- 
tinued to serve about eight years. After the Declara- 
tion of Independence was adopted, and the new State 
government organized, General Floyd was elected a 
Senator in the first legislative body that convened in 
New York. It was no unusual thing for the same indi- 
vidual, in those days, to be members of Congress, and 
the State Legislatures, and commanding officers in the 
army, at the same time. Such was the case with Gen. 
Floyd, and many other members of the first and second 
Congresses. He died August 4, 1821, aged 87. 
8* 



90 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

Philip Livingston, Merchant, was born at Albany, 
N. Y., January 15, 1716. In 1759 he was elected a 
member of the General Assembly of the Colony, from 
the city of New York. In 1770 he was one of the 
committee appointed to correspond with the celebrated 
Edmund Burk, then agent in England for the Colony 
of New York. When the war broke out, it is believed 
that his enlightened views of American affairs, as mani- 
fested in his brilliant speeches in Parliament, in defence 
of the Colonies, were derived from his long-continued 
and constant correspondence with Philip Livingston. 
He was elected to Congress in 1774, and again May 11, 
1776. He died in Philadelphia, June 12, 1778, aged 
62 years. 

Francis Lewis, Mercha?it, was born in the town of 
Llandaff, Wales, in 1713, emigrated to New York in 
1735. He was elected to the General Congress in 1775, 
and again May 11, 1776. He died December 30, 1803, 
aged 93 years. 

Lewis Morris, Gentleman Farmer, was born at 
Morrisania, Westchester county, New York, in the year 
1726. He was elected to Congress in 1775, an d again 
May 11, 1776. He died in January, 1798, aged 71. 

NEW JERSEY. 

Richard Stockton, Lawyer, Jurist and Statesman, 
was born upon the Morven Estate near Princeton, New 
Jersey, October 1, 1730. In 1774 he was placed upon 
the bench of the Supreme Court of the Province. He 
was elected a delegate to the General Congress, June 
28, 1776. He died of cancer in the neck, February, 
1 781, aged 50 years. 

John Witherspoon, D. D., LL. D., Clergyman, 
was born in the parish of Yester, Haddingtonshire, 
Scotland, February 5, 1722. In 1766 he was offered 
the presidency of Princeton College, New Jersey, and 
through the urgency of Richard Stockton he accepted 
it in 1768, and under the influence of his name and ex- 
ertions, it soon rose from a low condition of its finances, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 9 1 

and other essential elements of prosperity, to a proud 
eminence among the institutions of learning in America. 
He also filled the chair of divinity in the College. He 
was elected to Congress, June 28, 1776, and was active 
in promoting the cause of independence. He was the 
author of several ecclesiastical and other works of great 
eminence. He died November 10, 1794, at the age of 
nearly 73 years. 

Francis Hopkinson, Lawyer, was born in Philadel- 
phia, in the year 1737. He graduated in his native 
city, and chose the profession of law. He visited Eng- 
land in 1765, and spent two years there, and upon his 
return he married Miss Ann Borden, of Bordentown, 
New Jersey. From 1774 to 1777, he published several 
humorous and popular essays, both in prose and poetry, 
which contributed to foment the spirit of freedom and 
to prepare the people for national independence. He 
was elected to the Continental Congress, June 28, 1776. 
He was appointed Judge of Admiralty of Pennsylvania 
in 1779, and in 1790, Judge of the District Court of the 
United States, by President Washington. He died May 
9, 1 791, aged 52 years. 

John Hart, Farmer* was born in Hopewell, Hunter- 
don county, of uncertain date, but supposed to be 1714. 
He was elected to the first Continental Congress, in 
1774. He was re-elected in 1775, and again June 28, 
1776. He died in 1780, full of years and deserved 
honors. 

Abraham Clark, Farmer and Surveyor, was born at 
Etizabethtown, N. J., February 15, 1726. He was 
elected to the Continental Congress, June 28, 1776. 
He was re-elected several times, and died in the early 
autumn of 1794, aged 68 years. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Robert Morris, Merchant, was born in Lancashire, 
England, in January, 1733. At tne a g e of about 13 
years, he removed with his family to America, and en- 
tered into mercantile business in Philadelphia. He 



92 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

was elected a delegate to Congress, November 3, 1775 > 
and again elected, July 18, 1776. He was appointed 
the first superintendent of finance in the United States, 
in 1 781, a position corresponding to Secretary of the 
Treasury. This was in the darkest days of the Revolu- 
tion, and his efforts to procure funds for the Govern- 
ment, even when the army under Washington had 
dwindled down to a handful of half-clad and half-fa- 
mished militia, were of incalculable service. When the 
Government credit could not command one thousand 
dollars, he raised tens of thousands, by loans upon his 
own credit. Americans, says a distinguished historian, 
" owe as much acknowledgment to the financial opera- 
tions of Robert Morris, as to the negotiations of Benja- 
min Franklin, or even the arms of George Washington." 
He resigned his office in 1 784, was a member of the 
Convention which framed the Constitution of the 
United States in 1787, and was elected a Senator of the 
United States, 1788. He was imprisoned for debt, in 
his old age — a burning shame, an indelible disgrace to 
the nation, to whose service he had sacrificed his best 
days and best energies. He died May 8, 1806, aged 
72 years. 

Benjamin Rush, M. D., Physician, was born in By- 
berry Township, Philadelphia County (now 2 2d Ward 
of the city) December 24, 1745. After completing his 
preliminary course of study, under the tutelage of Dr. 
Finley, principal of an academy at Nottingham, Mary- 
land, he entered Princeton College, New Jersey, in 
1759, and at the age of sixteen, he took his degree. 
His early preferences were strongly in favor of the legal 
profession, but by the persuasions of his mother, and many 
warm friends, he was led to embrace that of medicine, 
and accordingly, in due time, he entered the office of 
Dr. Redman of Philadelphia, as a student. After re- 
maining with him for a year or two, in 1766 he went 
to Europe and studied medicine in Edinburgh, London, 
and went to Paris in the summer of 1768. He gradu- 
ated in the University of Edinburgh, and received the 
degree of " Doctor of Medicine." 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 93 

Upon his return to America, he was elected profes- 
sor of Chemistry in the Medical College of Philadel- 
phia in 1769. The refusal of a number of delegates in 
Congress to vote for the Declaration, was followed by 
their withdrawal, and to fill a vacancy occasioned by 
this movement, Dr. Rush was elected in 1776. He, 
with a number of others, who were admitted under 
similar circumstances, did not sign the Declaration 
until August 2d, the same year, the time of its engross- 
ment. 

In 1777, he was appointed surgeon-general and phy- 
sician-general of the army. He rose to great emi- 
nence in' his profession, especially in reference to his 
management and treatment of the Yellow Fever that 
ravaged the city of Philadelphia so terribly in 1793. 
He was highly distinguished as a Medical writer, as well 
as an essayist of political and general topics. He voted 
for the adoption of the Constitution of the United 
States in the State Convention in 1787. In 1789 he 
became professor of the theory and practice of Medi- 
cine, in the Medical College of Philadelphia. He was 
appointed professor of the Institutes of Medicine in the 
University of Pennsylvania in 1791, when the Medical 
College was united with the University. He was trea- 
surer of the Mint during the last fourteen years of his life. 
In 181 1, the Emperor of Russia sent him a diamond 
ring as a testimonial of respect for his medical skill. 
He died April 19, 1831, aged 67 years. 

Benjamin Franklin, LL.D., Printer, was born in 
Boston, Massachusetts, January 17, 1706. He is too 
well known and honored in America to require a 
lengthened biographical sketch here. He was kept in 
a common school for two or three years, and at ten 
years of age, was taken into the service of his father, 
who was in the business of a soap boiler and tallow- 
chandler. Tiring of the monotony of his situation, he 
longed for greater liberty, and broader field for activi- 
ty ; he conceived a strong desire for marine adventures ; 
to prevent his putting this youthful freak into execution, 



94 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

his father bound him to his elder brother James, who 
was a printer. Here his desire for books and thirst for 
knowledge were in a measure satisfied. His faculties 
developed rapidly, and he made great intellectual ad- 
vancement ; by industry and steady application to his 
art, he soon became proficient therein ; so much so, 
that a spirit of jealousy began to manifest itself towards 
him ; the perception of which, caused him such dissat- 
isfaction that he resolved upon a separation. Accord- 
ingly at the age of seventeen he embarked on board a 
vessel about to sail for New York, and clandestinely 
left Boston, shaping his way for Philadelphia. Here 
there were but two printing establishments at that time, 
in one of which he soon found employment as a jour- 
neyman printer. In the following year he went to 
England, and worked at his trade in London for over 
twelvemonths. In 1726 he returned to Philadelphia. 
By his industry, integrity, temperance and other good 
qualities, he not only gained the esteem and friendship 
of his employers, but succeeded in establishing a busi- 
ness credit in the city, and with the assistance of some 
friends he established himself in business. In 1729 he 
became the editor and proprietor of a newspaper (the 
"Pennsylvania Gazette,") which his talents for writing 
soon rendered very popular and profitable. In 1732 
he commenced the publication of "Poor Richard's Al- 
manac," which, on account of the useful information 
it contained for the people, acquired a wide reputa- 
tion. He also projected a library club, in 1 731. called 
the "Junto." Many of the books they collected formed 
the nucleus of the present Philadelphia Library at the 
northeast corner of Fifth and Library Sts. , and which is 
now one of the largest in the United States. By his 
talents, prudence, integrity and wisdom he continued 
to rise in the estimation of the community in which he 
lived, untill he was deemed worthy of the highest hon- 
ors which his country could bestow. He was appointed 
Government printer in 1 734, clerk of the General As- 
sembly in 1736, post-master of Philadelphia 1737. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 95 

He instituted fire companies in Philadelphia, the first 
on the continent, and devised means for paving the 
streets, and lighting the city with gas. He took an in- 
terest in the military, and projected the "American 
Philosophical Society," the "Pennsylvania Hospital," 
and the "University of Pennsylvania. " He established 
the " General Magazine and Historical Chronicle," for 
the British Plantations, in 1741. In 1744, he was 
elected to the General Assembly, to which position he 
was re-elected for ten years consecutively. In 1753 he 
was appointed Deputy Post Master General of the Brit- 
ish Colonies. In 1754 he was a delegate to a Conven- 
tion of Representatives of the Colonies, that met at Al- 
bany, to consult upon the general defence and security 
against the French. In 1757 the General Assembly of 
the Colony sent Franklin to London to adjust a diffi- 
culty between that body, and the proprietary Governors, 
in regard to taxation, from which the Governors 
claimed exemption. He was successful ; and it was de- 
cided that the estates of the proprietaries should bear 
their due proportions of the public burdens. On his 
return in 1762 he received the thanks of the Assembly, 
for the able and faithful fulfilment of his mission, to- 
gether with a present of $20,000 as a remunerative re- 
cognition of his valuable services, during his five years' 
absence. 

"Franklin had already become distinguished in the 
scientific world, by his successful experiments on the 
nature of electricity. In 1752 he had made the impor- 
tant and brilliant discovery of the identity of lightning 
with the electric fluid, by means of a kite." The 
practical and scientific results of this grand philosophi- 
cal feat are familiar to every school-boy. And the 
high honors conferred upon him by the Universities of 
Edinburgh, and Oxford, and other celebrated European 
institutions of learning, are too well known, to require 
repetition here. 

In 1 764 Franklin was again sent, by the Assembly, 
as agent to England ; he was afterwards appointed 



g6 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

agent by several of the other Colonies. While he was 
there the odious Stamp Act was past, which occurred 
early in 1765, but through his earnest and persevering 
efforts, his talents, skill, and varied information, which 
were shown to great advantage, in the House of Com- 
mons, it was repealed during the following year. But 
other laws equally objectionable and oppressive, in re- 
lation to taxation, and the personal rights of the Colo- 
nists, remained in force, against which he pertinaciously 
protested. His opinions had great weight there, and 
the eyes of many of the leading statesmen were upon him. 
In the dispute between the American Colonies and the 
mother country, Franklin had sought earnestly and 
sincerely to prevent a disruption ; when, however, he 
became convinced that a separation was inevitable, he 
returned home and took an active part in promoting 
the cause of independence. 

He arrived in Philadelphia on the 5th of May, 1775, 
after an absence of more than ten years. The day after 
his arrival, he was unanimously elected by the Assembly 
of Pennsylvania, a delegate to the Second Continental 
Congress, which was about to assemble. He was again 
elected November 3d, and was one of the faithful band 
of patriots that faced and braved the storms of 1776. 
He was one of the committee of five appointed by Con- 
gress to frame the " Declaration of Independence." 
When he took the pen in hand to sign the immortal 
document, he archly remarked to those around him, 
" We must now hang together, or we will hang separate- 
ly." 

Towards the close of 1776, he was appointed ambas- 
sador to the court of 'France ', though more than seventy 
years of age he accepted the Commission and sailed in 
October. 

He arrived in Paris, December 21, where he was re- 
ceived with great deference and marks of high distinction. 
His mission was eminently successful ; a treaty was con- 
cluded and signed by Franklin and the French Minis- 
ter at Paris, February 6, 1778, America was declared 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 97 

independent, and the French Government openly es- 
poused the cause of the Colonists. This treaty may 
be said to have secured the independence of the Ameri- 
can Colonies. After the surrender of Cornwallis and 
the cessation of hostilities, Franklin took an important 
part in the negotiation of peace with England, and signed 
the preliminary articles of a treaty of peace at Paris, 
November 30, 1782. The definitive treaty of peace 
was signed at Paris, by Franklin, John Adams and Jay, 
September 3d, 1783. His biographer says of this act, 
" Then did the bosom of this old Nestor of patriots 
swell with national pride, and emotions of irrepressible 
patriotism took possession of his soul. Then it was 
that, true to a former pledge, he put on a suit of clothes 
which, ten years before, on the occasion of his being 
insulted before the English Privy Council, he declared 
he would never wear again until he had signed 
England's degradation and America's Independence." 
Franklin afterwards negotiated with Prussia a treaty, in 
which he inserted an article against privateering. "This 
treaty," said Washington, " marks a new era in nego- 
tiation. It is the most liberal treaty which has ever been 
entered into between independent powers." He re- 
turned home in September, 1785. He was received 
with great demonstrations of joy by the entire country. 
The next month after his arrival, and at the age of 
eighty years, he was chosen President of Pennsylvania 
for one year, to which position he was re-elected in 
1786 and 1787. He was a delegate to the Convention 
which met in Philadelphia in May, 1787, to form a 
constitution of the United States. 

At the close of the Convention he made a speech in 
which he said, "I consent to this Constitution, because 
I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is 
not the best." 

His last public act was the signature of a memorial to 
Congress by the Abolition Society, of which he was 
President. 

He died April 17,1 790, aged 84 years. Not only the 
9 



gS THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

people of this country, but of England and France also, 
mourned the loss of so great a man. His remains are 
entombed in the cemetery of Christ Church, at the 
southeast corner of Fifth and Arch streets, Philadelphia. 
A few years ago a section of the brick wall, which in- 
closes the ground, a few feet east of Fifth street, on 
Arch street, was removed, and its place supplied with an 
iron railing, to afford pedestrians, as they hurry to and 
fro, an opportunity of casting a passing glance at the flat 
marble slabs that mark the resting-places of Benjamin 
Franklin and Deborah his wife. 

In view of the vast advantages derived from the life- 
long public services of Franklin, in securing indepen- 
dence, framing the new Government, negotiating with 
foreign powers, &c, it is a burning shame to the coun- 
try, a blot upon its national glory, and a deep disgrace 
to Philadelphia in particular, that a wasted, weather- 
beaten stone, seen only through this " hole in the wall," 
with its inscription rendered almost illegible by the 
scathing hand of time, should have so long remained the 
only mark indicating the tomb of the ablest statesman, 
the greatest Philosopher, and the wisest sage, America 
ever had. 

Let this, the Centennial year of our national existence be 
marked by the erection of a befitting monument to 
Benjamin and Deborah Franklin, as an expression of 
National gratitude for the great and enduring benefits 
received from the great and varied national services 
rendered by the illustrious dead. 

John Morton, Surveyor, was born in Delaware coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, in 1724. He was appointed Justice 
of the Peace in 1764, by the Governor of the Province. 
He was soon afterwards chosen a member of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, and for a number of years was Speaker 
of the House. In 1766 he was made high Sheriff of the 
county. He held the office of presiding Judge of the 
Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions, and about the 
same time was elevated to the bench of the Supreme Court 
of the Province. In 1774 the Assembly of Pennsylva- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



99 



nia appointed Mr. Morton a delegate to the General 
Congress. He was re-elected November 3, 1775. He 
died in April, 1777, aged 53 years. 

George Clymer, Merchant, was born in Philadel- 
phia, 1739. His political principles were decidedly 
Republican, and he was among the most ardent defen- 
ders of the Republican cause. In 1776, after two of the 
Pennsylvania delegates in the General Congress de- 
clined voting for the Declaration of Independence, and 
withdrew from their seats, Mr. Clymer and Dr. Rush 
were appointed to succeed them, and they both joyfully 
affixed their names to that instrument. In 1779 he was 
again elected to Congress, and again for the third time 
in 1780. He was a member of the Convention that 
formed the Federal Constitution in 1787. He was the 
founder of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society. He 
was appointed to many important posts, directly by the 
people, besides "performing his official duties, with 
promptness and great ability. He died January 24, 
1813, aged 73 years. 

James Smith, Lawyer, was born in Ireland about 
1719 — exact day not known. He studied law in Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania, and when admitted to the bar, 
removed to a frontier locality where Shippensburg now 
stands, in Cumberland county. He soon removed from 
there to the village of York, York county, where he re- 
mained during the rest of his life. He was an active 
and ardent supporter of the American cause ; he was 
often called upon by the people to serve them in various 
primary capacities. He was elected to the General 
Congress in 1776, to fill a vacancy, made by the with- 
drawal of a member, who refused to support the Decla- 
ration of Independence, and with Dr. Rush, George 
Clymer, and others, signed that instrument at its en- 
grossment on Parchment on the Second of August. 
Those elected to fill the vacancies, caused by the retir- 
ing members, did not take their seats until after the 
Declaration had been adopted. He died July 11, 1806. 
He was supposed to have been nearly 90 years old. 



IOO THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

George Taylor, Iron M aster, was born in Ireland in 
1 71 6. Resided in Durham, Pennsylvania, afterwards 
purchased an estate on the Lehigh, then Northumber- 
land county, and erected Iron works there. He was a 
member of the Provincial Assembly five consecutive 
years. In 1776 he was elected to fill a vacancy in the 
General Congress, occasioned by a withdrawing mem- 
ber. He signed the Declaration on the Second of Au- 
gust. Mr. Taylor remained in Congress one year, and 
then withdrew from public life and settled in Easton, 
where he died February 23, 1781, aged 65 years. 

James Wilson, Lawyer, was born in Scotland, in 
1742. In 1774 he was elected to the Provincial Assem- 
bly of Pennsylvania. In May, 1775, he was chosen a 
delegate to the General Congress. On December 3 of 
the same year he was again elected for the session of 
1776. He voted for and signed the Declaration of In- 
dependence, and remained an active member of Con- 
gress until 1777. Towards the close of 1782 he was 
again elected a delegate to the General Congress, and 
took his seat in January, 1783. He was again elected 
to Congress towards the close of 1785, and took his seat 
the following March. 

He was an active member of the Convention that 
formed the Federal Constitution in 1787. Mr. Wilson 
was also a member of the Convention that framed the 
new Constitution for Pennsylvania in 1788. He was 
appointed by Washington one of the Judges of the Su- 
preme Court of the United States. 

He died at Edenton, North Carolina, while on official 
business, upon that Circuit, August 28, 1798, aged 55 
years. 

George Ross, Lawyer, was born in New Castle, Del- 
aware, in 1730. He was admitted to the bar in 1751, 
and removed to Lancaster, Pa. He was elected to the 
Assembly of Pennsylvania, 1768. He was elected to 
Congress in 1774, and continued a member until 1777. 
In April, 1799, Mr. Ross was appointed Judge of the 
Court of Admiralty for Pennsylvania. He died at Lan- 
caster in July, 1780, aged 50 years. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 1 01 

He was distinguished for his sympathy towards the 
oppressed, especially in regard to the Indians who re- 
sided within his vicinity. He was eminently kind- 
hearted, benevolent and patriotic. 

DELAWARE. 

( Then known as the lower counties on the Delaware.} 

Caesar Rodney, Farmer, was born at Dover, in the 
Province of Delaware, in 1730. He was a member of 
the Provincial Assembly in 1769, and was chosen its 
Speaker; he continued a member and the speaker of 
that body until 1774. He was elected a delegate to 
the General Congress in August, 1774, and took his 
seat at the opening of Congress, September 5. On 
May ri, 1775, he was re-elected. He was not present in 
Congress during the closing debates upon the proposi- 
tion for a Declaration of Independence in 1776, but 
was sent for by his colleague, Mr. McKean, so as to se- 
cure the vote of Delaware for that important measure. 
Mr. Read, declining to vote for it, would otherwise 
have left Delaware divided, she being able to give but 
one vote out of three for the measure. Mr. Rodney ar- 
rived in time to give his vote for Independence, and 
enjoyed the high privilege of signing the Declaration. 
Mr. Read also signed it afterwards, though he did not 
vote for its adoption. On Mr. Rodney's return to his 
constituents, they approved, by acclamation, of his acts 
in the National Council. He was appointed Brigadier- 
General of the Province, and devoted the remainder of 
his life to military duties. He died of a cancer in 
the cheek, early in the year 1783, aged about 53 years. 

George Read, Lawyer, was born in Cecil County, 
in the Province of Maryland, in the year 1734- He 
was admitted to the bar 1753, when only 19 years of 
age. He commenced practicing law in Newcastle, 
Delaware, in 1754. In 1763 he was appointed Attor- 
ney-General for the " lower counties on the Delaware," 
Kent, Sussex and Newcastle. This office he held until 

9* 



102 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

elected]a delegate to the Continental Congress, in 1774. 
In 1775 he was elected a member of the General As- 
sembly of Delaware, and was re-elected to the office 
eleven successive years. He was re-elected to Con- 
gress May 11, 1775, and was a member in 1776. He 
was a member of the Convention that framed the State 
Constitution of Delaware, and President of that body. 
He was also a member of the Convention that framed 
the Constitution of the United States, and Chief Justice 
of the State of Delaware. He died after a short and 
severe illness, in 1798, aged 64 years. 

Thomas McKean, Lawyer, was born in Chester 
County, Pennsylvania, in 1734. He was a delegate to 
a Convention that assembled in New York, 1765, with 
reference to the Stamp Act, called the "Stamp Act >y 
Congress. He was elected a delegate to the General 
Congress in 1774, and by re-elections remained an ac- 
tive member of that body until the ratification of the 
Treaty of Peace in 1783. He had been appointed in 
1777 President of the State of Delaware and Chief 
Justice of Pennsylvania; the latter position he re- 
tained until 1799, when he was elected Governor of 
Pennsylvania, and by re-elections was continued in that 
office for nine years. He died June 24, 181 7, aged 84 
years. 

MARYLAND. 

Samuel Chase, Lawyer, was born April 17, 1741, in 
Somerset County, Maryland. In 1761, at the age of 
twenty years, he was chosen a member of the Provin- 
cial Assembly of his native colony. He was a bold, 
fearless and energetic advocate of Independence, while 
most of those who surrounded him " fawned at the feet 
of royal power." Mr. Chase was one of the five dele- 
gates to the first Continental Congress in 1774. He 
continued a member of Congress until 1778. In 1796 
he was nominated by President Washington, and con- 
firmed by the Senate, Judge of the Supreme Court of 
the United States. He held the office about fifteen 
years. He was impeached in 1804 for misdemeanor in 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 1 03 

relation to certain political trials. John Randolph, of 
Roanoke, instigated and conducted this impeachment, 
which resulted in the acquittal of Judge Chase. He 
died June 19, 181 1, aged 70 years. 

William Paca, Lawyer, was born in Hartford Coun- 
ty, Maryland, in 1740- He was elected a delegate to 
the Continental Congress in 1774, was re-elected Sep- 
tember 13, 1775, and continued a member until 1778, 
when he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court of the State. The delegates in Congress from 
Maryland were much embarrassed by the opposition of 
their constituents to independence, and their loyal ad- 
herence to the British Crown, as evinced in their in- 
structions, frequently repeated in the early part of 
1776. In the latter part of June of that year the Con- 
vention withdrew their restrictions upon their delegates, 
and left them free to act according to the suggestions of 
their own judgments in the premises. Accordingly 
they cast their votes for independence on the fourth of 
July following. He continued to fill the office of Chief 
* Justice until 1782, when he was elected Governor of 
the State, which position he held one year, and then 
retired to private life. He died in 1799, aged nearly 
60 years. 

Thomas Stone, Lawyer, was born in Charles Coun- 
ty, Maryland, in 1743. He was elected to the General 
Congress in 1774, and re-elected September 13, 1785. 
He was one of the committee who framed the Articles 
of Confederation adopted in November, 1777. He 
was again elected to Congress that year, and finally re- 
tired early in 1778. A colleague of Chase and Paca, 
he was equally earnest and decisive with them in his 
course in relation to independence, but his native 
modesty rendered him less aggressive. He died Octo- 
ber 5, 1787, aged 44 years. 

Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, Lawyer, was born 
in Annapolis, Maryland, September 20, 1737. He was 
educated as a Roman Catholic, and at the age of eight 
years was sent to France for that purpose. He studied 



104 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

law at Paris and London. Having returned to America 
about 1764, he inherited a very large estate in land in 
his native Province, and was reputed to be the richest 
man in Maryland. He was elected a member of the 
Provincial Assembly in 1775, an d delegate to Congress 
in July, 1776. When he signed the Declaration, he 
attached " of Carrollton " to his name, to distinguish 
it from that of his cousin, "Charles Carroll," and to 
identify himself more fully with the danger, as well as 
the honor, resulting from that manifesto. He was 
elected Senator of the United States in 1788. In 1810 
he retired from public life. Strong and vigorous in de- 
bate, convincing and exhaustive in his writing, occu- 
pying a high social position by inheritance, and main- 
taining it by a life of honor and patriotism, with an un- 
tarnished reputation, he possessed an influence over his 
countrymen that very few statesmen enjoy in the same 
degree. He was the last surviving signer of the Decla- 
ration of Independence. He died November 14, 1832, 
aged 96 years. 

VIRGINIA. 

George Wythe, Lawyer, was born in Elizabeth City 
county, Virginia, in 1726, He was admitted to the bar, 
1757. Was a member of the House of Burgesses for 
several years, before the Revolution. On the thirteenth 
of September, 1775, Mr. Wythe was elected a delegate 
to the General Congress, and was a member in 1776. 
In this year he was appointed one of a committee to re- 
vise the laws of Virginia. In 1777 he became Judge of 
the high Court of Chancery, and served as Chancellor 
of Virginia for twenty years. In 1786 Mr. Wythe was 
chosen a delegate to the Convention that framed the 
Federal Constitution, and was twice chosen a Senator 
of the United States under it. He died June 8, 1806, 
aged 80 years. 

Richard Henry Lee, Gentleman, was born in West- 
moreland county, Virginia, January 20, 1732. He was 
sent to England at an early age, by his father, to be 
educated, which was the custom of the times, among the 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. I05 

best families of the "Old Dominion." He returned to 
Virginia when nearly nineteen years of age. In 1757 
he was elected to the House of Burgesses in Virginia. 
In 1765 he eloquently defended the resolution against 
the " Stamp Act," introduced by Patrick Henry. He 
was sent as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 
1774; in the proceedings of which body he took an 
active part. The memorial to the people of British 
America, authorized by the Continental Congress, is at- 
tributed to his pen. 

On June 7, 1776, in pursuance to his own sense of 
duty, and in obedience to the express instructions of the 
Assembly of Virginia, he introduced into Congress his 
famous resolution, declaring a total separation from the 
Mother Country, which he supported by a most eloquent 
and powerful speech. Mr. Lee was again elected to 
Congress in 1778 ; he became President of that body in 
1784; and was elected a United States Senator from 
Virginia in 1789. Like most other Virginians he dis- 
approved of the Constitution. He died June 19, 1794, 
aged 62 years. 

Thomas Jefferson, Lawyer, was born at Shad well, 
in Albemarle county, Virginia, one biographer says April 
2d, another 13th, 1743, near the spot that afterwards 
became his residence, and which he called Monticello. 
His name stands among the most eminent of American 
Statesmen. He entered a grammar school at the age of 
five years, and at nine commenced the study of the 
classics, with a Scotch Clergyman named Douglass. On 
the death of his father the Rev. Mr. Maury became his 
preceptor — and at seventeen he entered an advanced 
class at William and Mary College, where he remained 
two years. In 1762 he entered the office of Judge 
Wythe as a student-at-law, and after taking a five years' 
course with that distinguished jurist, he was admitted to 
the bar in 1767. While a student of law in 1765, Jef- 
ferson heard, in the House of Burgesses, Patrick Henry's 
great speech against the Stamp Act, and fired by its 
doctrines, he at once stood forth the avowed champion 



Io6 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

of American Freedom. His public career commenced 
in 1769 by an election to the Virginia House of Bur- 
gesses, where he listened to the " Great Orator of the 
Revolution," four years before. He made a strong but 
unsuccessful effort in that body, where he was at once 
active and popular, for the emancipation of the slaves. 
In 1773 he united with Patrick Henry, Richard Henry 
Lee, and others, in establishing the Committee of Cor- 
respondence, for the dissemination of intelligence be- 
tween the Colonies. Mr. Jefferson was one of the com- 
mittee for Virginia, and was a very active and useful 
member. Elected the next year to a Convention to 
choose delegates to the first Continental Congress at 
Philadelphia, he drew up for their instruction his 
famous document, of which he speaks thus in his biog- 
raphy. " I set out for Williamsburgh, some days before 
that appointed for our meeting, but was taken ill of a 
dysentery on the road, and was unable to proceed. I 
sent on, therefore, to Williamsburgh, two copies of my 
draught, one under cover of Peyton Randolph, who I 
knew would be in the chair of the Convention, the 
other to Patrick Henry. Whether Mr. Henry disap- 
proved the ground taken, or was too lazy to read it (for 
he was the laziest man in reading I ever knew) I never 
learned ; but he communicated it to nobody. Peyton 
Randolph informed the Convention he had received 
such a paper from a member, prevented by sickness from 
offering it in his place, and he laid it on the table for 
perusal. It was read generally by the members, ap- 
proved by many, though thought too bold for the pre- 
sent state of things ; but they printed it in pamphlet 
form under the title of ' A Summary View of the Rights 
of British America. ' ' ' It found its way to England, was 
taken up by the opposition, interpolated a little by Mr. 
Burk, so as to make it answer opposition purposes, and 
in that form it ran rapidly through several editions. 
This pamphlet gave great offence to Lord Dunmore, the 
Royal Governor of Virginia, who threatened to prose- 
cute him for high treason. And because his associates 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



107 



in the Virginia Assembly sustained Jefferson, Dunmore 
dissolved it. They then assembled in a private capaci- 
ty, and drew up a remonstrance, which had a powerful 
effect upon the people. The Governor perceived that 
his acts were futile, and he allowed the matter to rest. 
He was elected a delegate to represent Virginia in the 
Continental Congress in 1775, and took his seat June 21 
of that year. His reputation as a statesman and accom- 
plished writer, at once placed him among the leaders of 
that renowned body. He served with distinguished 
ability on the most important committees — among which 
was that to draft a Declaration of Independence, sever- 
ing all allegiance and connection between the Colonies 
and the Mother Country. His colleagues on that com- 
mittee were B. Franklin, J. Adams, R. Sherman and 
R. R. Livingston. Mr. Jefferson, though the youngest 
member, was appointed its chairman, and at the request 
of the other members, assumed the delicate and respon- 
sible duty of drawing up the document, which with a 
few verbal amendments, and the striking out of the sec- 
tion relating to abolition of the foreign slave trade, was 
adopted July 4th, 1776, by the unanimous vote of all 
the Colonies, and signed by every member present ex- 
cept John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania. Mr. Jefferson, 
in alluding to the erasure of the slave trade portion of 
his draft, remarks, " The clause too reprobating the en- 
slaving the inhabitants of Africa, was struck out in com- 
plaisance to South Carolina and Georgia, who had 
never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, 
and who, on the contrary, wished to continue it. Our 
northern brethren also, I believe, felt a little tender 
under those censures ; for though their people had very 
few slaves themselves, yet they had been pretty consid- 
erable carriers of them to others." 

It may be doubted if a State paper has ever been 
framed that has exerted, or is destined to exert, so great 
an influence on the destinies of a large portion of the 
human race. The Declaration of Independence, says 
Edward Everett, " is equal to anything ever born on 



Io8 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

parchment, or expressed in visible signs of thoughts." 
The heart of Jefferson in writing it, "adds Bancroft," 
and Congress in adopting it, beat for all humanity. 

During the summer of 1776 he was elected to a seat 
in the Virginia Assembly, and desirous of serving his 
own State, he resigned his seat in Congress, and de- 
clined the appointment of Commissioner to France, to 
take part in the deliberations of the State Assembly. 
Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Wythe and Mr. Pendleton, were ap- 
pointed a commission to revise the laws of Virginia. To 
Mr. Jefferson belongs the imperishable honor of being 
first to propose in the Legislature of Virginia the laws 
forbidding the importation of slaves, converting estates 
tail, into fee simple ; annulling the rights of primogeni- 
ture, confirming the rights of religious opinions, reforms 
which he believed would eradicate " every fibre of an- 
cient or future aristocracy." He also originated a com- 
plete system of elementary and collegiate education. 
From the early part of 1777 to the middle of 1779, Mr. 
Jefferson in conjunction with his colleagues, was assidu- 
ously employed in the arduous labors of effecting these 
and other great reforms in the governmental structure 
of his native State. 

In 1779 Jefferson succeeded Patrick Henry as Gover- 
nor of Virginia, and held the office during the most 
gloomy period of the Revolution. In 1781 he declined 
a re-election, because, in his opinion, a " military 
chief " would inspire greater public confidence at that 
critical period. Two days after retiring from office, 
his estate at Elk Hill was laid waste, and he and his 
family narrowly escaped capture by the enemy. On 
the 15th of June, 1781, Jefferson had been appointed, 
with Mr. Adams, Dr. Franklin, Mr. Jay and Mr. Lau- 
rens, a minister Plenipotentiary for negotiating peace, 
then expected to be effected through a mediation of 
the Empress of Russia, but the condition of his family 
obliged him to decline the appointment ; and the nego- 
t tiation was never entered upon. The following year, 
1782, November 13, his appointment was renewed. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. IO9 

Before his preparations for sailing, were completed, in- 
formation was received that a Provisional treaty of 
peace had been signed by the Commissioners already 
in London, to become absolute, on the conclusion of 
peace between France and Great Britain. Congress 
excused him from further proceedings in the matter. 
In 1774 he proposed and carried through Congress, a 
bill establishing the present Federal system of coinage, 
of dollars, halves, quarters, dimes, cents, and mills, 
which took the place of the English pounds, shillings, 
pence, &c. On May 7, 1784, Congress resolved that a 
minister Plenipotentiary should be appointed, in addi- 
tion to Mr. J. Adams and Dr. Franklin, for negotiating 
treaties of commerce with foreign nations, and he was 
elected to that duty. After negotiating with Denmark 
and Tuscany, and some ineffectual efforts with a few 
other powers, Mr. Adams was appointed Minister Ple- 
nipotentiary of the United States to London, and in 
July, 1785, Dr. Franklin returned to America, and Mr. 
Jefferson was appointed his successor in Paris. 

While in Europe he published his " Notes on Virgi- 
nia." In September, 1789, he obtained permission to 
return to America, and reached Virginia soon after 
Washington was elected as first President of the United 
States. In organizing the Government Washington 
offered him a seat in his cabinet as Secretary of State, 
which Jefferson, after some hesitation, accepted. He 
resigned his office December 31, 1793, and retired to 
Monticello. At the close of Washington's second term, 
he became the Presidential candidate of the Republican 
(since known as the Democratic) party, John Adams 
being the nominee of the Federalists. Adams received 
the highest number of votes, was declared President ; 
and according to the rule then in force, Jefferson being 
the next highest candidate became Vice President. 
He took his seat as President of the Senate, March 4, 
1797. At the close of Adams' administration in 1800, 
Jefferson was elected President and Aaron Burr Vice 
President, and were inaugurated March 4, 1801. Jeffer- 
10 



IIO THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

son was re-elected President in 1804, and took his seat, 
the second time, March 4, 1805. His electoral vote 
was one hundred and forty-eight, to twenty-eight op- 
posed. In 1809 he voluntarily retired from office, after 
a prosperous administration of eight years. He re- 
turned to Monticello, where he spent the remainder of 
his life in domestic tranquillity, and the exercise of a 
most liberal hospitality. 

In 1 819 he took the chief part in founding the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, at Charlottesville, near Monticello, 
and acted as its rector until his death. In religion he 
was a free thinker. His last words were, a few minutes 
before the close, " I resign myself to my God, and my 
child* to my country." He died about 12 o'clock 
(noon) July 4, 1826, on the same day, and near the 
same hour, with John Adams, on the 50th anniversary 
of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, aged 
83 years. 

EPITAPH. 

He wished his monument to be a small granite obe- 
lisk, with the following inscription, if any, written by 
himself. 

Here was buried 
Thomas Jefferson. 
Author of the Declaration of Independence ; 

Of the Statute of Virginia for religious Freedom 
And Father of the University of Virginia. 

Benjamin Harrison, Gentleman, was born at Berke- 
ly, on the James River, Virginia, about the year 1740. 
In 1764 he was elected to the House of Burgesses of 
Virginia. He was soon elected speaker, and became one 
of the most influential members in that Assembly, where 
he occupied a seat during the greater part of his life. 
Mr. Harrison was one of the first seven delegates from 
Virginia to the Continental Congress of 1774. He was 
again elected September 13, 1775. He was chairman 
of the Committee of the whole, during the deliberation 

* Mrs. Randolph. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Ill 

on the Declaration of Independence in 1776. From 
17S2 to 1784 he was Governor of the State. He was 
also a member of the Convention which framed the Con- 
stitution of the United States in 1787. He was the 
father of General William Henry Harrison, President 
of the United States, in 1 840-1. He was again elected 
Governor of Virginia in 1791. He died two days after 
his last election, in April, 1791, aged about 51 years. 

Thomas Nelson, Gentleman, was born at Yorktown, 
Virginia, December 26, 1738. He was educated at 
Cambridge, England, whither he was sent at the age of 
14 years. He remained there until 1761, when he re- 
turned to America. In 1774 he was elected to the 
House of Burgesses of Virginia, and there took the side 
of the patriots. It was during that session, that Lord 
Dunmore, the royal Governor of Virginia, dissolved the 
Assembly. Eighty-nine of the members, among whom 
was Mr. Nelson, met the next day in the Raleigh 
House, Williamsburgh, and formed an association far 
more effectual in throwing up the strong bulwarks of 
freedom, than the regular Assembly. 

On September 13, 1775, he was elected a delegate to 
the General Congress, for 1776. He was subsequently 
appointed Brigadier General and Commander-in-chief of 
the militia of the State. In 1781 he succeeded Jefferson 
as Governor of Virginia. He died Jan. 4, 1789, aged 52 
years. 

Francis Lightfoot Lee, Gentleman, a younger 
brother of Richard Henry Lee, was born in Westmore- 
land County, Virginia, October 14, 1734. He was 
elected a member of the House of Burgesses of Virgi- 
nia, for Loudon County, in 1765, while his brother was 
a member of the same House for Westmoreland County. 
He continued a member of the Virginia Assembly, by 
re-election annually, until 1772, when he married 
the daughter of Colonel John Taylor, of Richmond, 
and moved to that city. He was soon elected a mem- 
ber for Richmond, and continued to represent that 
County until 1775, when he was elected a member of 
the Continental Congress. Though not a fluent de- 



112 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

bater, he was an influential and useful legislator. His 
sympathies ran strongly in favor of the American cause. 

He was re-elected to Congress, and continued to 
serve until 1779. He died at Richmond, in April, 1797, 
aged 63 years. 

Carter Braxton, Gentleman, was born at Newing- 
ton, in King and Queen's County, Virginia, September 
10, 1736. He was a member of theHouse of Burgesses 
of Virginia, in 1765, and was present when Patrick 
Henry made his great speech on his resolutions respect- 
ing the " Stamp Act," which act imposed heavy taxes 
upon the Colonies, without their being represented in the 
British Parliament, or being possessed of any means of 
redress, except open, combined resistance to its oppres- 
sive provisions. The passage of this Act did much to 
facilitate the cause of the patriots, and hasten Indepen- 
dence, by arousing the people to a true sense of their 
position, as the result of the tyranny exercised over 
them by the Mother Country. 

Mr. Wirt says, " It was in the midst of this magnifi- 
cent debate on these resolutions, while he was descanting 
on the tyranny of the obnoxious Act, that he exclaimed 
in a voice of thunder, and with the look of a god, 
' Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, 
and George the Third, (Treason,) and George the Third 
may profit by their example. If this be treason make 
the most of it."' 

Like many others who were members of the Virginia 
Assembly at that time, Mr. Braxton had the fires of 
patriotism kindled in his breast by that great display of 
patriotic eloquence and power, that continued to burn 
during the remainder of his life. 

In 1775 ne was elected a delegate to the Continental 
Congress, to fill a vacancy occasioned by the death of 
Peyton Randolph. He died October 10, 1797, aged 61 
years. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

William Hooper, Lawyer, was born at Boston, 
Massachusetts, June 17, 1742. He was educated at 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



"3 



Harvard University, where he graduated in 1760. He 
studied Law with James Otis. On the completion of 
his studies, he removed to North Carolina, and com- 
menced business in 1767, where he soon became emi- 
nent in his profession. 

In 1773 Mr. Hooper was elected a member of the 
Provincial Assembly of North Carolina for the town of 
Wilmington. The next year he was returned a mem- 
ber for the County of Hanover. 

From his first entrance into public life he sympa- 
thized with the patriots. In response to the proposition 
for a General Congress, a convention of the people was 
called to meet in Newbern, in the summer of 1774, at 
which Mr. Hooper, on August 25, was appointed the 
first delegate to the Continental Congress. On April 
5, 1 775, he was again elected to Congress. He remained 
a member of that body until March 1777, when he re- 
signed his seat and returned home. He died at Hills- 
borough in October, 1790, aged 48 years. 

Joseph Hewes, Merchant, was born of Quaker pa- 
rentage, at Kingston, New Jersey, in the year 1730. He 
was educated at Princeton College ; served his appren- 
ticeship with a merchant in Philadelphia, commenced 
business there, amassed a small fortune, and about 
1760 removed to Edenton, North Carolina, which be- 
came his home for the remainder of his life. He was 
elected a member of the Legislature of North Carolina, 
in 1763, and by re-election remained a member for 
several successive years. He was active in getting up 
a convention of the people of the State, to second the 
call of Massachusetts for a General Congress. The Con- 
vention which met in the summer of 1774, elected him 
one of the delegates to the Continental Congress, Au- 
gust 25. He was one of the Committee appointed to 
draw up a Declaration of Rights. On April 5, 1775, 
he was again elected to Congress, was a member in 
1776, voted for and signed the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. He resigned his seat in Congress October 
2 9> T 779> on account of failing health, and died No- 



114 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL, 

vember 10, in Philadelphia eleven days after his resig- 
nation, aged 50 years. 

John Penn, Lawyer, was born in Carolina County, 
Virginia, May 1 7, 1 741. Though his father was possessed 
of adequate means to afford him a good English educa- 
tion, at least, he seemed to be utterly neglectful of the 
intellectual culture of his son ; with the exception of a 
moderate attendance at a common county school, his 
educational opportunities were nothing. His father 
died, when he was about eighteen years old, leaving 
him sole heir to his estate. Instead of squandering it 
in extravagance and dissolute indulgences, and with 
vicious and dissipated companions, as is too often the 
case with the young and thoughtless ; he applied him- 
self diligently to study, and at the age of twenty-one 
was admitted to the bar. By close application to busi- 
ness, and his hitherto dormant native eloquence, he 
soon rose to eminence in his profession. In 1774 he 
removed to North Carolina, and on October 13, 1775, 
was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress. He 
remained a member for three successive years. He re- 
tired from public life in 1781, and died in September, 
1788, aged 47 years. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Edward Rutledge, Lawyer, was born in Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, in November, 1749. He went to 
England to finish his legal education ; at the age of 
twenty-five, he was elected a delegate from South Caro- 
lina to the first Continental Congress, and was present 
at its opening, at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, Sep- 
tember 5, 1774. He was re-elected in 1775, and again 
on April 24, 1776. 

He was bold and determined in regard to Indepen- 
dence, when many of his own State, were opposed to 
the measure. In 1794, Mr. Rutledge was elected 
United States Senator, to supply the vacancy caused by 
the resignation of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney; in 
1798 he was elected Governor of his native State, but 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



"5 



did not live to serve out his official term. He died 
January 23, 1800, aged 51 years. 

Thomas Heyward, Jr., Lawyer, was born in St. 
Luke's Parish, South Carolina, in 1746. After com- 
pleting his preparatory education, and commencing the 
study of Law at home, he was sent to England, at 
about the age of twenty, to finish his legal course. 
While in England he acquired a distaste for British do- 
mination and Colonial submission, and shaped his 
course to avenge the wrongs of his countrymen. He 
was among the first in South Carolina to resist the op- 
pressive measures of the Home Government. He was 
placed in the first General Assembly that was organized 
after the abdication of the Provincial Governor. In 
1775 he was chosen a delegate to the General Congress, 
and was re-elected April 24, 1776. 

He supported Mr. Lee's motion for absolution from 
British rule, with great earnestness. He voted for and 
signed the Declaration of Independence. He remained 
in Congress until 1778, when he accepted the appoint- 
ment of Judge of the Criminal and Civil Courts of South 
Carolina. He was captured by the enemy, and Mr. 
Rutledge, was kept as a prisoner of war for nearly a 
year. He died in March, 1809, aged 63 years. 

Thomas Lynch, Jr., Lawyer, was born in Prince 
George's Parish, upon the North Santee river, South 
Carolina, August 5, 1749. After receiving a good pri- 
mary education at Georgetown, South Carolina, at the 
age of thirteen years he was sent to England to con- 
tinue his studies, preparatory to a higher course of in- 
struction ; after completing which, he entered the Uni- 
versity of Cambridge, where he graduated, and then 
commenced the study of law. By permission of his 
father, he returned to South Carolina in 1772, and en- 
listed at once in the cause of the patriots. Mr. Lynch 
accepted a captain's commission in the first Provincial 
regiment raised in South Carolina in 1775. He was 
elected to the Congress of 1776, as successor to his 
father, Thomas Lynch, whose resignation was caused 



Il6 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

by his declining health. Thomas Lynch, Jr., did not 
remain in Congress long, for the declining health of 
both himself and father caused him also to resign his 
seat. In an attempt to take a voyage to the West In- 
dies, for the improvement of his health, in the latter 
part of the year 1779, he was supposed to be lost at sea, 
as the vessel was never heard of afterwards. At the 
time of the disaster he was about 30 years of age. 

Arthur Middleton, Gentleman, was born at Mid- 
dleton Place, the family residence in South Carolina, 
in 1743. According to the custom among the wealthy 
planters of the Southern Provinces, before the Revolu- 
tion, Arthur Middleton was sent to England when about 
twelve years of age, to perfect his education. He 
graduated at the University of Cambridge, at the age 
of twenty-two. He remained some months in Eng- 
land after leaving Cambridge, then spent two years 
traveling on the Continent, and returned to South 
Carolina in 1768. He was a member of the Commit- 
tee of Safety appointed by the Provincial Congress in 
1775. In the winter of 1775-76, Mr. Middleton was 
one of a committee to form a government for South 
Carolina, and early in the spring of 1776 was elected a 
delegate to the General Congress at Philadelphia. He 
participated with the Patriots in the thrilling scenes of 
that session, and continued a member of Congress un- 
til the close of 1777, when he returned to South Caro- 
lina. He was taken prisoner by the enemy, and, with 
Rutledge, Heyward, and many other influential men, 
was sent to St. Augustine, in Florida, where he re- 
mained about one year, and was then sent as an ex- 
changed prisoner to Philadelphia. While remaining 
in the latter city, he was again elected to Congress from 
South Carolina. He held the office until November, 
1782, when he returned to his family. He was a Re- 
presentative in his State Legislature until near the close 
of 1787. He died January 1, 1788, aged 45 years. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



II 7 



GEORGIA. 

Burton Gwinnett, Merchant and Farmer, was born 
in England in 1732, emigrated to America, and arrived 
in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1770. After two 
years' residence there, he moved to Georgia. He fa- 
vored his tory proclivities for several years, but ulti- 
mately became convinced of the righteousness of the 
patriots' cause, and embraced it. The energy and en- 
thusiasm he manifested in promoting his newly-acquired 
principles, rendered him exceedingly popular with the 
patriots. In 1776 he was elected to Congress. He 
became President of the Provincial Council of Georgia 
in 1777, and was killed in a duel, by General Mcintosh, 
in May of that year, aged 45 years. 

Lyman Hall, M. D., Physician, was born in Con- 
necticut in 1 721, and graduated at Yale College, 1747. 
In 1752 he settled in Sudbury, in the district of Med- 
way, Georgia. He was among the first of the Southern 
patriots to raise their voices against British oppression 
and misrule. He was elected a delegate to the Conti- 
nental Congress in 1775, and re-elected May 20, 1776. 
After voting for and signing the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, he returned home for a season. Dr. Hall 
was a member of Congress nearly all the time until 
1780. In 1783 he was elected Governor of the State. 
He held the office one term, and then retired from 
public life. He died in the year 1784, aged 63 years. 

George Walton, Carpenter and Lawyer, was born of 
obscure parentage, in Frederick County, Virginia, in 
1740. After finishing his apprenticeship at the carpen- 
ter trade, under an ignorant and brutal master, he re- 
moved to the Province of Georgia. Though he was 
deprived of time by day, and light by night, for intel- 
lectual improvement, he used torch-wood for light and 
devoted his earnings to study. Persevering in this 
course, his apprenticeship ended with his mind well 
stored with general knowledge. Soon after arriving in 
Georgia he began the study of law. He commenced 



Il8 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

the practice of law in 1774. He espoused the republi- 
can cause with earnestness and zeal Though the Pro- 
vince was slow to sever their allegiance with royal au- 
thority, in the winter of 1776 the Assembly of Georgia 
declared for the patriotic cause, and on May 20 elected 
five delegates to the Continental Congress, one of 
whom was Mr. Walton. He was deeply interested in 
the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and 
voted for and gave it his signature. He remained in 
Congress until near the close of 1778. In 1779 he was 
elected Governor of the State, but did not hold that 
office long, for in January, 1780, he was again elected 
to a seat in Congress for two years ; but in the follow- 
ing October he withdrew from that body, and was again 
elected Governor of the State, and held the office a 
full term. Near its close he was appointed Chief Justice 
of the State, which position he retained until his death. 
In 1798 he was elected a member of the United States 
Senate, where he remained one year, and retired to 
private life, except in so far as his judicial duties re- 
quired his attention. He died in Augusta, Georgia, 
February 2, 1804, aged 64 years. 



14 



15* 



APPENDIX. 



OPENING DAY OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION. 

Hark ! on May ioth, 1876, "at morn's early dawn," 
the old Centennial Liberty Bell on the State House, 
rang forth its hoarse, loud peals, breaking in upon the 
quiet repose of the sleeping city. Hark ! again, another 
bell chimes in, and still another, and another, until a 
thousand merry bells, from Churches, Factories, Sta- 
tions, Locomotives, Steamboats, &c, great and small, 
unite in one discordant mingling of their heterogeneous 
voices. Again, Hark ! a shrill whistle pierces the early 
morning air, from some establishment where skill and 
industry unite in the production of fabrics for the pro- 
motion of human comforts and convenience. And 
another, another and still another, until a thousand 
whistles, from as many stationary and moving engines, 
penetrate the agitated atmosphere with their piercing 
shrieks of base and treble, which joined with the roar 
of the booming cannon from George's Hill, unite in 
saluting the incoming day — and making up the most 
discordant incongruity of sounds. 

Now look ! Roused from their morning slumbers by 
this ineffable confusion of noises, the people, men, wo- 
men and children are seen upon house-tops, and at 
windows industriously engaged in throwing to the 
morning breeze the nation's chosen colors. 

From the most elaborate and costly banner, on the 
highly finished staff, to the diminutive, penny flag, at- 
tached to its tiny stick ; those of every size, and of 
every Nation ; and composed of every material, from 
the regulation bunting to the starred and striped cotton 
fabric, were soon seen decorating the long rows of 
buildings, stretching as far as the eye could extend, and 
farther, throughout the length and breadth of the city. 
From the stately residences on the grand broad avenues, 
and the most humble abodes in the small courts and 



120 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

alleys, streamed the National ensign. What ! was the 
city all a-crazed ? No, these demonstrations were but 
the evidences of the universal recognition of our Na- 
tion's glory, the general expression of patriotic ardor. 
This day had been set apart for the inaugurating cere- 
monies of the Centennial celebration of our Nation's 
birth, by the opening of the great International Exhibi- 
tion, of the products of the skill and industry of the 
civilized world ; and these manifestations were the 
throbbings of the great National Heart, heaving with 
emotions of National pride and National gratitude. 

The Legislature, having by law, made this a legal 
holiday throughout the State, business in Philadelphia 
was mainly suspended, and the day was given up to fes- 
tivity and a series of exalted enjoyments. 

The day closed amid a sheen of burnished glory, 
caused by the rays of the setting sun falling upon the 
flag-dressed city, rendering it ablaze with the effulgence 
of the display of American patriotism, and the evidences 
of devotion to American principles. 

As the evening advances, signs of the illumination 
become apparent. Public buildings, offices, dwellings, 
are decorated with flags and emblems suitable to the 
occasion, and richly furnished parlors elaborately 
adorned, all lighted up with unusual brilliancy, present- 
ing a gorgeous appearance, are all thrown open to public 
view, — and the hundreds of thousands of pedestrians 
promenading the streets, and the numerous masquerade 
parties, and grotesque bands, all derive pleasure and 
delight at beholding the grand spectacle, presented in 
honor of the great occasion. 

THE GROUNDS OF THE EXHIBITION. 

In the Park, west of the Schuylkill River, known as 
West Fairmount Park, are enclosed two hundred and 
thirty-six acres, for the use of the exhibition ; seventy- 
five acres of this, are under cover, within the five prin- 
cipal exhibition buildings and their annexes. The esti- 



APPENDIX. 121 

mated cost of these buildings, including the fittings, 
preparation of the grounds, &c, is $6,724,850. 

There are nearly two hundred buildings within the 
inclosure, erected by different States and Countries, and 
exhibiting parties, at the expense of the builders, ex- 
clusive of the five principal structures put up by the 
Centennial authorities, at the above-mentioned cost. 

FUNDS. 

The funds for carrying into operation this grand 
scheme of International Exposition, were raised main- 
ly by Subscriptions to the Stock, National, State and 
Municipal appropriations, sale of concessions for build- 
ings, &c. 

WHAT OTHER NATIONS HAVE DONE. 

The following figures, taken from official files of the 
Interior Department, exhibit the interest which other 
nations have taken in the Exposition : 

APPROPRIATIONS. 

Brazil (232 centes) ..„ $116,000 

China (50,000 taels) 70,000 

Egypt 200,000 

France (600,000 francs) 120,000 

Germany (500,000 marks) 125,000 

Japan 600,000 

Mexico 300,000 

Sweden and Norway (350,000 crowns) 93,800 

Spain (750000 pesetas) 150,000 

Switzerland (250,000 francs) 50,000 

Austria (150,000 florins) 75>°°° 

Argentine Republic 72,000 

Belgium (200,000 francs) 40,000 

Australia (,£5,000) 25,000 

Denmark (40,000 crowns) io,5°° 

Italy (200,000 francs) 40,000 

Guatemala 12,000 

The amount appropriated by the British Government cannot be 
exactly ascertained, but the Commissioners of that Government are 
warranted in expending such sums as will make a satisfactory dis- 
play. 

The appropriations made by the different countries, 
as above shown, are for the benefit of their own people, 
11 



122 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

m getting their products and works of art, to the Ex- 
hibition. In the Main Building there are over forty 
different countries, represented with space occupied by 
each. 

CEREMONIES AT THE GROUNDS. 

We are indebted to the urbanity of Mr. George W. 
Childs, the gentlemanly publisher of the Public Ledger, 
the prince of journals, and oracle of journalistic intelli- 
gence in Philadelphia, for the kindly manner in which 
he permitted us to transfer to our pages such portions, 
as we may desire, of that most admirable report of the 
opening proceedings and ceremonies, at the Exhibi- 
tion grounds on May 10, 1876, and published in the 
Ledger, on the morning of the eleventh. We the more 
cheerfully avail ourselves of his permission because no- 
thing we could write, would contain so many elements 
of satisfaction to the reader, as his publication does. 

PROGRAMME. 
The Opening Ceremonies. 

The following is the official and corrected programme for the 
opening of the Centennial Exhibition : 

United States Centennial Commission, International Exhibition, 
1876, Philadelphia. Philadelphia, May 8, 1876. 

The United States Centennial Commission announces the fol- 
lowing orders and programme for the opening of the International 
Exhibition on the 10th instant: 

The Commission, with the concurring counsel of the Board of 
Finance, instructed its officers to give formal invitations only to 
persons in official positions, to those officially connected with the 
Exhibition, and to members of the press, by reason of the impossi- 
bility of discriminating among the numerous and generous support- 
ers of the enterprise. 

All the gates except those at the east end of the Main Building 
will be open to the public at 9 A. M., at the established rate of ad- 
mission. 

The Main Building, Memorial Hall and Machinery Hall, will 
be reserved for guests and exhibitors until the conclusion of the 
ceremonies, about I P. M., when all restrictions will be withdrawn. 

The President of the United States will be escorted to the Ex- 
hibition by Governor Hartranft, of Pennsylvania, with a division 
or more of troops from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 






APPENDIX. 



I23 



Invited guests will enter the Main Building from the carriage 
concourse at the east end or by the south-middle entrance on Elm 
Avenue. The doors will be open to them at 9 A. M. They will 
pass to the platform in front of Memorial Hall through the north- 
middle doors of the Main Building, and should occupy their places 
before 10.15 A. M. All the space in the vicinity of the platform, 
save what may be needed for passage, ^vill be open to the public. 
Seats on the platform for the ladies invited are provided, and it is 
expected that they will join the procession if they choose. 

The orchestra of one hundred and fifty pieces and the chorus of 
one thousand voices will be under the direction of Theodore 
Thomas, assisted by Dudley Buck. 

PROGRAMME. 

1. 10.15 A. M. — National Airs, by the Orchestra. 

2. 10.30 — Arrival of the President of the United States. 

3. Centennial Inauguration March, by Richard Wagner. 

4. Prayer, by the Right Reverend Bishop Simpson. 

5. Hymn, by John Greenleaf Whittier. Music by John K. 
Paine, of Massachusetts. Organ and Orchestral Accompaniment. 

6. Presentation of the Buildings to the Commission by the Pre- 
sident of the Centennial Board of Finance. 

7. Cantata, by Sidney Lanier, of Georgia. Music by Dudley 
Buck, of Connecticut. Basso Solo, by Myron W. Whitney, of 
Boston. 

8. Presentation of the Exhibition to the President of the United 
States by the President of the Centennial Commission. 

9. Address by the President of the United States. 

10. Unfurling of the Flag, Hallelujah Chorus, Salutes of Artil- 
lery and Ringing of the Chimes. 

11. Procession through the Main Building and Machinery Hall. 

12. Reception by the President of the United States in the 
Judges' Pavilion. 

No flags or ensigns, except such as are permanently fixed in the 
buildings, will be displayed on the morning of the loth until the 
signal be given. The organs and other musical instruments 
and the bells will await the same notice. 

When the President of the United States declares the Exhibi- 
tion open, the flag on the staff near him will be unfurled as a sig- 
nal for the raising of all other flags and ensigns, the ringing of the 
chimes, the salute of one hundred guns on George's Hill and the 
singing of the Hallelujah Chorus of Handel, by the chorus, with 
organ and orchestral accompaniment. 

Immediately upon the announcement, the Foreign Commission- 
ers will pass into the Main Building and take places upon the gen- 
eral avenue opposite their respective sections. 

The President of the United States, conducted by the Director 



124 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

General of the Exhibition, and followed by the guests of the day, 
will pass through the Main Building. As the President passes the 
Foreign Commissioners they will join the procession, and the whole 
body will move to Machinery Hall. 

On his way the President will be saluted by his military escort, 
formed in two lines between the buildings. 

In Machinery Hall, when the procession shall, as far as possible, 
have entered the building, the President, assisted by George H. 
Corliss, will set in motion the great engine and the machinery con- 
nected therewith. No further formal order of procession will be 
required. 

The President, and such of the guests as may choose to follow, 
will be escorted by the north main aisle of Machinery Hall to the 
doors of the eastern tower and to the Judges' Pavilion. 

The passage in return to the Main Building will be kept for 
half an hour. 

The President of the United States will hold a brief reception 
in the Judges' Pavilion. 

Should the weather render it impossible to conduct the exercises 
in the open air, they will be held in the Main Building, and the 
best regulations the circumstances may permit will be communica- 
ted to the guests upon their arrival. T. B. P. Dixey is announced 
as Master of Ceremonies. He will wear a white sash. He will 
be assisted by twenty-five aids, who will wear blue sashes. 

By order of the Centennial Commission. 

Joseph R. Hawley, President. 

John L. Campbell, Secretary. 

THE EXHIBITION OPENED BY THE GRANDEST CEREMONY EVER 
WITNESSED IN AMERICA. 

On the day appointed, the Centennial International Exhibition was 
formally opened at Fairmount Park by the President of the United 
States. This great event, which was accompanied by an imposing 
public demonstration upon the grounds, and heralded by salvos of 
artillery, has put into practical operation the vast enterprise to 
which Philadelphia has bent her energies for so long a time. It 
has been more than five years since this Exhibition received the 
sanction of law. Upon March 3, 1 87 1, Congress passed the act 
creating the United States Centennial Commission, under whose 
supervisory control the gigantic Exhibition has been planned and 
gradually unfolded to its present vast dimensions. Upon June 1, 
1872, the act was passed which created the Centennial Board of 
Finance, thus calling into being the organization which raised the 
money necessary for the undertaking, and without whose energetic 
agency it might probably have been the merest vision. John 
Welsh and his coadjutors have held the magician's wand that has 



APPENDIX. 



I 2 5 



conjured up Aladdin's Palace in the Park. Upon July 3d, 1873, 
the President proclaimed the contemplated Exhibition, and two 
days afterwards the Secretary of State sent notification cf this proc- 
lamation to every foreign nation with which we hold diplomatic 
intercourse. In January, 1874, the participation of the various 
Executive Departments was ordered; and on June 5th, 1874, Con- 
gress authorized the President to extend, in the name of the 
United States, a respectful and cordial invitation to the govern- 
ments of the world to be represented and take part in the Interna- 
tional Exhibition. Every one of the thirty-nine nations to which 
this invitation was extended not only accepted it, but sent goods in 
such profusion, that many have exceeded all their former efforts at 
international displays ; and they made preparations with such en- 
ergy that they excelled our own people in the speed with which 
their exhibits were got ready. Foreign gems and fabrics make up 
three-fifths of the display in the Main Building ; probably four- 
fifths in the Art Department, and a large proportion in every 
other; and the foreign representation far exceeded anything of the 
kind ever before seen in this country. 

It was upon July 4th, 1873, tnat l ^ e Fairmount Park Commis- 
sion formally transferred to the Centennial Commission the Exhi- 
bition grounds at Lansdowne, this event taking place in the pres- 
ence of three Cabinet Ministers, who represented the President, and 
of the Governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It was upon 
July 4, 1874, that ground was first broken upon Lansdowne pla- 
teau for the Main and Memorial Buildings. The little sod then 
dug by the Mayor, and now, with its pretty flowers, preserved as a 
memento in his office, was the signal, for beginning the great work 
that has covered the Exhibition enclosure with its numerous build- 
ings. Since then the watching of the daily rise of the vast struc- 
tures in the Park has been a pleasant occupation of our people. 
They saw first the modest cottage built that contained the builders' 
offices, and which when finished, was the only edifice to be seen 
on the grand plateau, but which now is dwarfed by so many com- 
manding structures. Then the Art Gallery slowly rose — at first 
stark walls of brick,* then faced with granite — both the earliest and 
the latest of the buildings. They watched the Main and Machine- 
ry Halls grow acre by acre, and the Horticultural Hall, nestling 
among the trees, with its bright-colored walls and its pretty design. 
Then the magic wand called into being the Government and Agri- 
cultural buildings almost in a night, as it were, and with amazing 
rapidity sent up a hundred or more structures of all shapes, styles 
and sizes, in all parts of the grounds, designed to represent all 
architectures, and to satisfy, if not delight, all tastes. And then the 
occupancy came, the flags of all nations began to float over them, 
showing that England, Spain, Brazil, France, and in fact all peo- 
ples had got at last an actual home in the new world. To-day, the 



126 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

work still goes on, with much yet unfinished, for the Centennial 
city can never be completely built. When a town or country 
ceases growth, its mission is in danger of being ended. 

But we must not linger on this theme. What had been done 
before was overshadowed by the event of this occasion. For 
months Philadelphia has been anticipating the ioth of May in the 
Centennial year. The day dawned in an outburst of patriotic 
ardor. The busy labor of the flag and decoration makers, public 
and private, saw the light. The city was literally enveloped in 
bunting — enwrapped in the flags of all nations. The stars and 
stripes found the English jack, the French and German tri-colors, 
the Austrian and Russian eagles, the elephant of Siam, the Chinese 
dragon, the sun of Japan, and the emblems of all the world aiding 
it in celebrating the Centenary. 

From pole and halyard, in festoons and clusters, they were flung 
to the Centennial breeze. How many square miles of silk and 
bunting waved in and over, around and through Philadelphia, it 
will be difficult to calculate. Everybody gave vent to joy with a 
flag, and the universality and remarkable character of this patriotic 
outburst in bunting, silk, and decorative art, is attested in the full 
description elsewhere given. The preparations for the display be- 
gan the day before, and, despite the lowering weather, the decora- 
tions fulfilled their part thoroughly. No feast or carnival of Europe 
or the Orient ever showed brighter decorations. 

The day opened with clouds and rain. It was a sore disappoint- 
ment, but could not be helped. Patriotism, however, after having 
been wrought up to the pitch displayed in Philadelphia, is not to 
be dampened by rain. At sunrise, the bell on Independence Hall 
sent forth the signal that the great day had come. The peal con- 
tinued a half hour, being taken up and spread over the city by all 
the bells and chimes, waking up the people who had not already 
begun the flag decorations. This was the formal announcement 
of the beginning of the Centennial Holiday, and, to add to the dis- 
play, the shipping in the harbor also ran up flags at sunrise. Thus 
opened the day. 

THE SCENE AT MR. CHILDS' RESIDENCE. 

A vast throng filled up Walnut and Twenty-second streets, 
around the residence of Mr. George W. Childs, the host of the 
President. Here had assembled the Cabinet officers and their 
wives. A full force of police under Captain Wood guarded the 
house, keeping the sidewalks clear of people. About 8.25 A. M., 
Governor Hartranft, accompanied by Adjutant General Latta, Col. 
North, and other officers, rode up to the door, being warmly cheered. 
At 8.30 the head of the military procession reached the house. 
President Grant appeared at the front door with Mr. Childs, the 
Cabinet also appearing, and as the President stepped out under the 



APPENDIX. 



127 



doorway the people loudly cheered him, handkerchiefs being 
waved by the ladies who rilled the opposite windows. The mili- 
tary column then moved, the troops numbering about 2800 men. 
As the different detachments passed they were heartily greeted. 
The sailors from the frigate Congress were particularly noticeable, 
and were loudly cheered. 

Capt. Ryan's company, the State Fencibles, as usual, attracted 
attention by their precision of drill, and were warmly commended 
by their distinguished spectators. 

Finally the City Troop, the President's immediate escort, ap- 
peared and formed in line on the north side of the street, facing the 
house. As they made this manoeuvre they were cheered, the dis- 
tinguished visitors on the steps also applauding them. 

The Presidential party then got into the carriages that were to 
take them out to the grounds. 

The ladies of the Cabinet, with the gentlemen accompanying 
them, then drove to the grounds by a different route. 

A GRAND HOLIDAY. 

It needed only the proof of a fine day, such as was made sure by 
9 o'clock, to devote the entire city to holiday-making. The peo- 
ple went almost en masse out to the Centennial grounds, and the 
rural districts poured in their thousands to swell the throng. For 
weeks the public, for many miles around, had been preparing for 
the tenth of May. Every railway, steamboat, stage, turnpike and 
highway leading to Philadelphia brought in its populace, who 
were added to the vast aggregate moving in grand mass upon the 
Centennial. After setting up decorations and getting ready for the 
journey to the Park, the people started, thronging the streets, some 
tarrying to see the military escort of the President, but all pouring 
over the bridges that led across the Schuylkill, each one bent upon 
the same goal. Cars, carriages, cabs and vehicles of all sorts were 
loaded down and still vast numbers went on foot. It looked as if 
a great army was moving in vast divisions to capture the Centennial. 
Probably the largest number passed over Girard avenue bridge. 
But the Market, Chestnut, South and Callowhill street bridges all 
had their moving armies, and the masses finally came together, 
when the Lancaster and Girard avenue currents were all turned 
into Belmont and Elm avenues. Few places have ever seen such 
a mass of humanity as crowded the streets bordering the southern 
limits of the Exhibition during that morning. 

The cars were overladen, the sidewalks overflowed into the 
streets, and when the gates into the ground were opened the pres- 
sure began to be relieved, and steady streams of people poured 
through as fast as the guards permitted, the march of men, women 
and children continuing for a long while. The throng outside the 
grounds ; the waving bunting, the animated mass of humanity, all 



128 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

lit up by the glad sunlight of a fair May morning, made a scene 
never to be forgotten. An American can only see one Centennial, 
therefore each made the most of it. 

THE CEREMONIES. 

The space reserved for holding the formal opening ceremo- 
nies was the large area bounded by the Main Building on the 
south and by Memorial Hall on the north. Memorial Hall 
stands upon a broad terrace, the front portion of which is paved 
with flagstones. Along the front of the hall and covering part 
of this pavement was erected a platform capable of accommo- 
dating four thousand people. Thac portion of the platform in 
front of the centre of the hall was square in shape, with a semi- 
circular stand projecting from the front, and placed directly 
across the avenue leading from the Main Building to Memorial 
Hall.- This stand was erected for the accommodation of the 
Emperor and the Empress of Brazil and their suite, the President 
of the United States and cabinet, and those persons most imme- 
diately concerned in the conduct of the ceremonies. 

From the ends of the pavilions, on the eastern and western 
corners of the building, the platform diverged from the east and 
west line in a southwesterly and southeasterly direction, thus 
giving it the general appearance of a parallelogram with square 
projections at the corners. The seats on this platform all looked 
toward the south, facing the northern side of the Main Build- 
ing, and with their backs toward Memorial Hall. The front of 
the central stand was covered with a large United States flag, 
across which was draped, in honor of the presence of the Em- 
peror of Brazil, the green and yellow folds of the Brazilian stan- 
dard. At the two corners of the entrance to the stands were 
displayed the flags of Great Britain and the United States, and 
to the right and left of the stands, respectively, the standards of 
France and Germany. In front of the balustrade, extending 
above the cornice of Memorial Hall, were placed handsome 
vases filled with a profusion of rare and beautiful plants. Im- 
mediately in front of the central stand were placed seats for the 
representatives of the press, of whom there were a great number. 

Over against the grand platform and facing it was erected an 
inclined platform, capable of accommodating one thousand per- 
sons. It adjoined the north line of the Main Building, and was 
occupied by the grand orchestra and chorus. This platform 
was arranged with tiers of seats, one above another, and was 
raised sufficiently above the ground to permit the passage of 
persons under it. A footway of asphalt was constructed under 
this platform, leading from the north centre door of the Main 
Building to Memorial Hall. The invited guests came in at 
three entrances ; one at the eastern end of the Main Building, 



APPENDIX. 129 

another opposite the south centre door, and another near the ex- 
treme southwestern corner of the building. They passed up the 
grand central nave, or through the central aisle to the north cen- 
tre door and out; passing underneath the music platform to the 
grand stand in front of Memorial Hall. 

The platform for the musicians was decorated with a rich dis- 
play of bunting. On the right of the centre was the American 
flag, and on the left the standard of the Netherlands. On the 
extreme right was the standard of Switzerland, and on the ex- 
treme left was the Italian flag. Over the passage way leading 
under the building were hangings of white and blue bunting, 
on which were wreaths of gilt leaves- enclosing the letters 
"'76;" above these were the words, in yellow letters on blue 
ground, " Main Building," and draped above these were the 
standards of Great Britain and France. The decorations of 
both the music stand and the platform for guests, although not 
elaborate, were, as a whole, rich, striking and in thorough 
keeping with the character of the occasion. 

At eight o'clock a number of invited guests had arrived, and 
by nine o'clock there was a very general sprinkling of people 
over the space between the Main Building and Memorial Hall. 
At ten o'clock the stands and open space between them were 
thronged with people, and in a few minutes after ten the assem- 
blage had become so dense that it was practically impossible to 
make one's way from point to point without the assistance of 
the police. All the available space on the platform and terrace 
was soon occupied to its utmost capacity, and people began to 
climb up to all points in the vicinity from which views of the 
scene could be obtained. Groups of men and boys were 
perched upon the bronze statues representing "Pegasus led by 
the Muses," standing on either side of the approach to Memo- 
rial Hall, and every inch of space on the statues and on the 
backs of the horses was eagerly grasped for. Indeed, so great 
was the eagerness to obtain a place that two men seated them- 
selves one between the ears of each of the horses. Groups of 
people were also congregated on the roofs of the Main Build- 
ing, Memorial Hall, Photographic Hall, the north annexe to 
the Main Building, Machinery Hall, and every other accessible 
elevation in the vicinity. 

Viewed from the grand stand, the immense assemblage of 
people covering acres of ground had a most impressive appearance. 

The arrangements for receiving and seating the invited guests 
on the platform were under the charge of the Committee of Re- 
ception : 

ARRIVAL OF THE EMPEROR OF BRAZIL. 

At ten minutes after ten Thomas' orchestra commenced to 
play a variety of national airs, comprising the following : 
I. The Washington March. 



I30 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

2. Argentine Republic ( March e de la Republica). 

3. Austria. Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser. 

4. Belgium. La Brabanconne. 

5. Brazil. Hymno Brasileira Nacional. 

6. Denmark. Volkslied — den tappre Landsoldat. 

7. France. La Marseillaise. 

8. Germany. Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland. 

9. Great Britain. God save the Queen. 

10. Italy. Marcia del Re. 

11. Netherlands. Wie neerlandschbloed. 

12. Norway. National Hymn. 

13. Russia. National Hymn. 

14. Spain. Riego's Spanish National Hymn. 

15. Sweden. Volksongen, (Bevare Gud var Kung). 

16. Switzerland. Heil dir Helvetia. 

17. Turkey. March. 

18. Hail Columbia. 

At twenty minutes after ten the Emperor and Empress of Bra- 
zil appeared, entering from the Main Building and passing 
along an avenue which was cleared for them, through the as- 
semblage to the platform. Senor A. P. Carvalho Borges, the 
Brazilian Minister to the United States, and lady, headed the 
suite. Senor Borges was dressed in the dark green uniform of 
Brazil, richly decorated with gold lace and covered with orders. 
He was followed closely by the Emperor and Empress. The 
Emperor was dressed in a suit of plain black. 

The Emperor and Empress were followed by the following 
ladies and gentlemen of their suite. Madame Silva Continho, 
Madame Saldanha, Dr. Silva Continho, Dr. Nicolao Moreira, Dr. 
Jose de Saldanha, Dr. Pedro Paes Leme, Counsellor Lopes Netto, 
Attache Luis de Saldanha. 

The Emperor was early recognized by the assemblage and 
was greeted with loud and prolonged cheering, which he ac- 
knowledged by raising his hat. On reaching the platform he 
was received by Hon. D. J. Morrell, of Pennsylvania, chairman 
of the Executive Committee of the United States Centennial 
Commission, who conducted the Emperor and his party to seats 
near the front of the central stand. 

Here the Emperor was met by Hon. Thos. W. Ferry, Presi- 
dent of the United States Senate. The Emperor and Senator 
Ferry engaged in conversation for some minutes, and the Em- 
peror recognizing Mrs. Grant (wife of the President of the 
United States) and Col. Fred. Grant, who were seated near by, 
turned and conversed with them. Mrs. Grant occupied a seat near 
the middle of the central stand. On her right was seated the 
Empress of Brazil, and on her left the wife of Senor Borges, 
the Brazilian Minister. Immediately in the rear of these were 



APPENDIX. 131 

seated Mrs. Hamilton Fish, Mrs. Marshall Jewell, Mrs. Alonzo 
Taft (wife of the Secretary of War), Mrs. Simpson (wife of 
Bishop Simpson), and Mrs. John Bigelow, of New York. On 
Mrs. Grant's left, and immediately in the rear of the Emperor 
of Brazil, were seated Mrs. E. D. Gillespie, President of the 
Women's Centennial Committees; Mrs. Governor Beveridge, 
of Illinois; Mr. Joseph B. Hawley and Hon. Wm. M. Evarts, 
of New York, wife and daughter. Further in the rear and to 
the right of this group were Sir Edward Thornton, Minister 
from Great Britain ; Lady Thornton and her two daughters. 
On the right of the Empress of Brazil was seated the Hon. 
Roscoe Conkling, United States Senator from New York. 

Arrival of Distinguished Guests. 

About twenty minutes before II, Gen. Phil. Sheridan, Lieute- 
nant General of the United States Army, appeared accompanied by 
his brother Col. Michael Sheridan. General Sheridan was recog- 
nized at once by the assemblage and was loudly cheered. He was 
followed by Gen. W. T. Sherman, General of the Army, accom- 
panied by his staff. Gen. Sherman was also received with loud 
cheering. Both Gen. Sherman and Gen. Sheridan were in full 
uniform. 

On reaching the platform, General Sheridan was introduced to 
the Emperor, who received him with marked cordiality, and en- 
gaged him for some moments in conversation. 

Shortly before the arrival of Gen. Sheridan a detachment of 
guards was sent to the front and opened a passage way through the 
mass of people congregated on the avenue connecting the two 
buildings and obstructing the passage from the Main Building to 
the platform. The throng was forced back by stretching two lines 
of rope and stationing policemen along each side. In the effort to 
crowd the people into a smaller space one man was seriously injured, 
and was carried away by the guards. 

The members of the Diplomatic Corps from Washington did not 
reach the stand in regular order, but arrived in detachments. 

The United States Senators and Members of the House of 
Representatives, officers of the Army and Navy, entered in the 
same desultory manner. The members of the Diplomatic Corps, 
and the army and navy officers were all in uniform, and made a 
very brilliant and striking appearance. Some of the costumes of the 
Foreign Ambassadors — for instances those of the representatives of 
Turkey, Egypt and China — greatly added to the varied and pic- 
turesque appearance of the scene. 

Among the guests seated on the platform were the following : 

The President and Cabinet. 
Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, and family. 



I32 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, Acting Vice-President of the United 
States. 

Hon. Hamilton Fish, Secretary of the State, and lady. 

Hon. Benjamin II. Bristow, Secretary of the Treasury, and lady. 

Hon. Alphonso Taft, Secretary of War, and lady. 

Hon. George W. Robeson, Secretary of the Navy, and lady. 

Hon. Zachariah Chandler, Secretary of the Interior, and lady. 

Hon. Marshall Jewell, Postmaster General, and lady. 

Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, Attorney General, and lady. 

John L. Cadwalader, First Assistant Secretary of State, and lady. 

The Supreme Court. 

Hon. Morrison R. Waite, Chief Justice; Associate Justices, 
Hon. Nathan Clifford, Hon. Noah H. Swayne, Hon. Samuel F. 
Miller, Hon. David Davis, Hon. Stephen J. Field, Hon. William 
Strong, Hon. Joseph P. Bradley, Hon. Ward Hunt. 

The Diplomatic Corps. 

Count Ladislas Hovos, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary of Austria-Hungary. 

Chevalier Ernest Von Travers, Secretary of Legation of Austria- 
Hungary. 

Mr. Nicholas Shishkin, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Ple- 
nipotentiary of Russia. 

Baron Albert Blanc, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary of Italy. 

Count Litta, Secretary of Legation of Italy. 

Senor Don Emilio Benard, Minister Resident of Nicaragua. 

Mr. De Pestel, Minister Resident of the Netherlands. 

Mr. J. H. De Hegermann-Lindencrone, Minister Resident of 
Denmark. 

Seflor Don Manuel M. Perrator, Minister Resident of Costa 
Rica. 

Mr. A. Grip, Charge" d' Affaires of Sweden and Norway. 

Mr. M. De Bjornstjerna, Sectary of Legation of Sweden and 
Norway. 

Mr. C. D. Bildt, attache" of the Legation of Sweden and Nor- 
way. 

M. Maurice Delfosse, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary of Belgium. 

Mr. Amedee Vanden Nest, First Secretary of Legation of Bel- 
gium. 

Baron du Jardin, First Secretary of Legation of Belgium. 

Gregoire Aristarchi Bey, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
Plenipotentiary of Turkey. 

Baltazzi Effendi, Secretary of Legation of Turkey. 

Rustem Effendi, Second Secretary of Legation of Turkey. 



APPENDIX. 



1 33 



Senor Don Vincente Dardon, Minister Plenipotentiary of Sal- 
vador. 

M. A. Bartholdi, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo- 
tentiary of France. 

Count de la Rochefoucauld, Secretaiy of Legation of France. 

Count de Pourtales, Third Secretary of Legation of France. 

Senor Don Juan B. Delia Costa, Envoy Extraordinary and Min- 
ister Plenipotentiary of Venezuela. 

Senor Don Felipe Zapata, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
Plenipotentiary of the United States of Colombia. 

Senor Don F. Agudelo, Secretary of Legation of the United 
States of Colombia. 

Senor Don Antonio Mantilla De Los Rios, Envoy Extraordi- 
nary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Spain, and lady. 

SeSor Don Jose De Soto, Second Secretary of Legation of Spain. 

Don Lois Polo De Bernabe, Third Secretary of Legation of 
Spain. 

Baron de Sant' Anna, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary of Portugal. 

Jushie Yoshida Kivonari, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
Plenipotentiary of Japan, and Mrs. Yoshida Tei. 

Mr. Yoshida Djiro, Secretary of Legation of Japan. 

Mr. Asada Yassenovi, attache of the Legation of Japan. 

Mr. Hangiro Assino, attache of the Legation of Japan. 

Mr. Seinoske Tashiro, attach^ of the Legation of Japan. 

Seflor Don Adolfo Ibanez, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
Plenipotentiary of Chili, and daughter. 

Right Honorable Sir Edward Thornton, K. C. Br. Envoy Ex- 
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Great Britain, and lady. 

Hon. Francis R. Plunkett, Secretary of Legation of Great Bri- 
tain. 

Capt. Wm. Gore Jones, R. N., naval attache of the Legation of 
Great Britain. 

lion. Power Henry Le Poer Trench, Second Secretary of Le- 
gation of Great Britain. 

Frank C. Lascelles, Second Secretary of Legation of Great Bri- 
tain. 

Francis C. E. Denys, Third Secretary of Legation of Great Bri- 
tain. 

Charles Fox Frederick Adam, Esq., Fourth Secretary of Lega- 
tion of Great Britain. 

Senor Don Manuel Rafael Garcia, Envoy Extraordinary and 
Minister Plenipotentiary of the Argentine Republic. 

Senor Don Ignacio Mariscal, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
Plenipotentiary of Mexico, and Sefiora Laura D. Mariscal. 

Mr. Elisha H. Allen, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary of Hawaii. 

12 



134 



THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY CELL. 



Mr. Kurd Von Schrozer, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
Plenipotentiary of the German Empire. 

Baron Max Von Thielmann, Secretary of Legation of the Ger- 
man Empire. 

Mr. P. W. Biiddecke, Chancellor of Legation of the German 
Empire. 

Councillor A. P. De Carvalho Borges, Envoy Extraordinary and 
Minister Plenipotentiary of Brazil, and lady. 

Senhor Benjamin Franklin Torreao De Barros, Secretary of Le- 
gation, of Brazil. 

Seflor Don Vincente Dardon, Envoy Extraordinary and Minis- 
ter Plenipotentiary-of Guatemala. 

Mr. Stephen Preston, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary of Hayti. 

Legislative Bodies and Officials. 
The Senate of the United States. 
The House of Representatives of the United States. 
The Governors of the States and their staffs. 

The Governor, State Officers, Supreme Court, and Legislature of 
Pennsylvania. 

The Mayor, City Councils and City Departments of Philadelphia. 
Foreign Commissioners. 

United States Centennial Commission. 

Alabama. — Richard M. Nelson, Selma. 

Arizona. — Richard C. McCormick, Washington, D. C. ; Alter- 
nate, John Wasson, Tucson. 

Arkansas. — Alternate, George E. Dodge, Little Rock. 

California. — J. Dunbar Creigh, San Francisco. 

Colorado.—]. Marshall Paul, Fair Play ; Alternate, N. C. Meek- 
er, Greeley. 

Connecticut. — Joseph R. Hawley, Hartford ; Alternate, Wm. P. 
Blake, New Haven. 

Dakota. — John A. Burbank, Springfield; Alternate, Solomon L. 
Spink, Yankton. 

Delaware. — John K. Kane ; Alternate, J. H. Rodney, New Cas- 
tle. 

District of Columbia. — James E. Dexter, Washington. 

Florida. — D. Osborn ; Alternate, J. T. Bernard, Tallahassee. 

Georgia. — Alternate, Richard Peters, Jr., Atlanta. 

Idaho. — Thomas Donaldson, Boise City. 

Illinois. — Frederick L. Matthews, Carlinville. 

Indiana.- — John L. Campbell, Crawfordsville ; Alternate, Frank- 
lin C. Johnson, New Albany. 

Iowa. — Robert Lowiy, Davenport. 

Kansas. — Alternate, George A. Crawford, Fort Scott. 



APPENDIX. 135 

Kentucky. — Robert Mallory, La Grange. 

Louisiana.— John Lynch, New Orleans; Alternate, Edward 
Pennington, Philadelphia. 

Maine. — Joshua Nye, Augusta ; Alternate, Charles H. Haskell, 
Bangor. 

Maryland. — John H. B. Latrobe, Baltimore. 
Massachusetts.— George B. Loring, Salem; Alternate, Wm. B. 
Spooner, Boston. 

Michigan.— Alternate, Claudius B. Grant, Houghton. 
Minnesota. — J. Fletcher Williams, St. Paul. 
Mississippi. — 0. C. French, Jackson. 
Missouri. — John McNeil, St. Louis. 
Montana. — Joseph P. Woolman, Helena. 

Nebraska.— Henry S. Moody, Omaha; Alternate, R. W. Furnas, 
Brownsville. 

Nevada.— Alternate, James W. Haines, Genoa. 
New Jersey.— Orestes Cleveland, Jersey City; Alternate, John 
G. Stevens, Trenton. 

New Mexico.— Eldridge W. Little, Santa Fe; Alternate, Stephen 
B. Elkins, Washington, D. C. 

New York.— N. M. Beckwith, New York city ; Alternate, C. 1 . 
Kimball, New York city. 

North Carolina.— Saml. F. Phillips, Washington, D. C. ; Alter- 
nate, Jonathan W. Albertson, Hertford. 

#/^._Alfred T. Goshorn, Cincinnati ; Alternate, Wilson W. 
Griffith, Toledo. 

Oregon.— Alternate, Andrew J. Dufur, Portland. 
Pennsylvania.— Daniel J. Morrell, Johnstown; Alternate, Asa 
Packer, Mauch Chunk. 

Rhode Island.— -George H. Corliss, Providence ; Alternate, Royal 
C. Taft, Providence. 

South Carolina.— -Wm. Gurney, Charleston. 
Tennessee.— Thomas H. Coldwell, Shelbyville; Alternate, Wil- 
liam F. Prosser, Nashville. 

7^^.— William H. Parsons, New York; Alternate, John C. 
Chew, New York. 

£/fo£. Alternate, William Haydon, Salt Lake City. 

Vermont.— Middleton Goldsmith, Rutland. 
Virginia.— F. W. M. Holliday, Richmond. 

Washington Territory.— Elwood Evans, Olympia; Alternate, 
Alexander S. Abernethy, Cowlitz county. 

JfW Virginia.— Alexander R ; Boteler, Shepherdstown ; Alter- 
nate, Andrew J. Sweeney, Wheeling. 
Wisconsin— David Atwood, Madison. 
Wyom i ng — Alternate, Robt. H. Lamborn, Philadelphia. 



I36 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

The Centennial Board of Finance. 
John Welsh, Philadelphia ; William Sellers, Philadelphia ; John 
S. Barbour, Virginia; Samuel M. Felton, Philadelphia; Daniel M. 
Fox, Philadelphia ; Thomas Cochran, Philadelphia ; Clement M. 
Piddle, Philadelphia; N. Parker Shortridge, Philadelphia; James 
M. Robb, Philadelphia; Edward T. Steel, Philadelphia; John 
Wanamaker, Philadelphia ; John Price Wetherill, Philadelphia ; 
Henry Winsor, Philadelphia; Amos R. Little, Philadelphia; John 
O. James, Philadelphia; Thomas H. Dudley, New Jersey; A. S. 
Hewitt, New York ; William L. Strong, New York ; John Gor- 
ham, Rhode Island; William Bigler, Pennsylvania. 

Womeris Centennial Executive Committee. 
Mrs. E. D. Gillespie, President, Philadelphia ; Mrs. E. P. Bou- 
ligny, District of Columbia ; Mrs. Bion Bradbury, Maine ; Mrs. 
James T. Fields, Massachusetts ; Mrs. W. L. Dayton, New Jersey ; 
Mrs. Edward F. Noyes, Ohio ; Mrs. F. W. Goddard, Rhode Is- 
land ; Mrs. C. J. Faulkner, West Virginia ; Miss Elizabeth S. Ste- 
vens, New Hampshire; Mrs. Gen. G. W. Cullum, New York; 
Mrs. Governor Beveridge, Illinois. 

Naval Officers. 
Admiral Porter, Vice Admiral Rowan, Rear Admiral Davis, 
Rear Admiral Jenkins, Rear Admiral Scott, Rear Admiral Mul- 
lany, Commodore Ammon, Commodore Wyman, Commodore Ste- 
vens, Commodore Crosby, Commander Lull, Commander Crom- 
well, Commander White, Lieutenant Commander Pearson, Lieu- 
tenant Thomas, Medical Director Wilson, Paymaster Ames, Passed 
Assistant Surgeon Green, Lieutenant Paul, Professor Nourse, Pro- 
fessor Harkness, Surgeon Nelson, Lieutenant R. P. Rodgers. 

Officers of the Army. 
Gen. Sherman and Staff; Gen. Sheridan and Staff; General 
McDowell and Staff; General Hancock and Staff; General A. 
Meyer, O. P., and Staff; General L. H. Pelouze ; Lieutenant F. 
V. Greene, Engineers ; Capt. Gregory, Engineers ; Lieut. Metcalfe, 
Executive Officer Government Exhibits; Lieut. Whipple, Ord- 
nance ; Gen. Van Vliett, Gen. Dana, Capt. Rockwell ; Quarter- 
master Department : Col. S. G. Lyford, Ordnance Corps, chairman 
of the Board on behalf U. S. Executive Departments ; Col. Cris- 
pin, Ordnance; Col. Conrad, Infantry; Col. Hart, Cavalry; Major 
McKee, Ordnance; Lieut. T. J. Haines, Commissary; Lieut. 
George M. Wheeler (the Explorer), Engineers ; Gen. Thos. A. 
Ruger, Superintendent West Point Military Academy ; Gen. Meigs, 
Q. M. G., U. S. A.; General Park, Engineers. 

ENTRANCE OF PRESIDENT GRANT. 

At ten minutes before eleven o'clock the First Troop, Philadel- 






APPENDIX. 137 

phia City Cavalry, marched upon the platform from the front en- 
trance to Memorial Hall, and cleared a passage way from the Hall 
to the front of the central stand, where seats were reserved for the 
Presidential party. They then formed in line on either side of the 
avenue, and presented arms. President Grant, leaning on the arm 
of General Joseph R. Hawley, passed out from Memorial Hall and 
down the line to the front of the platform. He was followed by 
Hon. Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State, leaning on the arm of Mr. 
John Welsh, President of the Centennial Board of Finance. Then 
came Hon. John F. Hartranft, with General Alfred T. Goshorn, Di- 
rector General of the Exhibition ; Hon. George M. Robeson, Sec- 
retary of the Navy ; Hon. Marshall Jewell, Postmaster General ; 
Hon. B. H. Bristow, Secretary of the Treasury ; Hon. Zachariah 
Chandler, Secretary of the Interior; Hon. Alonzo Taft, Secretary 
of War, and Mr. George W. Childs. When the President ap- 
peared the orchestra, at a signal from General Hawley, struck up 
" Hail to the Chief." The party took seats on the platform, in full 
view of the immense assemblage. 

The effect of the music up to this time had not been what was 
anticipated. The orchestra of 150 pieces being composed largely 
of strings, did not produce that volume of sound necessary for an 
outdoor concert, and the delicate shading of stringed instruments 
would have been more appropriate in a concert room. At the 
President's stand, and for a long distance in front of it towards the 
orchestra, no sound was heard, except that produced by the brass 
instruments. In the piano passages no sound whatever could be 
heard. This was in some degree owing to the noise made by the 
multitude, who, not hearing plainly, paid little attention to the 
music and became noisy. 

At 10.55, tne Centennial Inauguration March, composed ex- 
pressly for this occasion by Richard Wagner, was begun by the 
orchestra. The first few bars being played forte, and the people 
being expectant, the music was heard by a large portion of the 
multitude, who remained quiet to the close. It was favorably re- 
ceived, and the general expression was, that the composition was 
worthy the occasion, and would add to the reputation of the dis- 
tinguished composer. It was loudly applauded, and the cheers 
continued for some moments. 

President Hawley then introduced Right Rev. Bishop Simpson, 
who invoked the blessing of God in the following language : 

PRAYER BY THE RT. REV. BISHOP SIMPSON. 

Almighty and everlasting God, our Heavenly Father. Heaven 
is thy throne and earth is thy footstool. Before thy majesty and 
holiness the angels veil their faces, and ,the spirits of the just made 
perfect bow in humble adoration. Thou art the creator of all 
things, the preserver of all that exist, whether they be thrones or 
12* 



I38 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

dominions or principalities or powers. The minute and the vast, 
atoms and worlds, alike attest the ubiquity of thy presence and the 
omnipotence of thy sway. 

Thou alone ai-t the sovereign ruler of nations. Thou raisest up 
one and castest down another, and thou givest the kingdoms of the 
world to whomsoever thou wilt. The past, with all its records, is 
the unfolding of thy counsels and the realization of thy grand de- 
signs. We hail thee as our rightful ruler, the king eternal, immor- 
tal and invisible, the only true God, blessed forever more. 

We come on this glad day, O thou God of our fathers, into these 
courts with thanksgiving, and into these gates with praise. We 
bless thee for thy wonderful goodness in the past, for the land 
which thou gavest to our fathers, a land veiled from the ages, from 
the ancient world, but revealed in the fulness of time to thy chosen 
people, whom thou didst lead by thine own right hand through the 
billows of the deep — a land of vast extent, of towering mountains 
and broad plains, of unnumbered products and of untold trea- 
sures. 

We thank Thee for the fathers of our country, men of mind and 
of might, who endured privations and sacrifices, who braved mul- 
tiplied dangers rather than defile their consciences or be untrue to 
their God, men who laid on the broad foundations of truth and 
justice the grand structure of civil freedom. 

We praise Thee for the closing century, for the founders of the 
Republic, for the immortal Washington and his grand associates; 
for the wisdom with which they planned, and the firmness and 
heroism, which, under Thy blessing, led them to triumphant suc- 
cess Thou wast their shield in hours of danger, their pillar of 
cloud by day, and their pillar of fire by night. May we, their sons, 
walk in their footsteps and imitate their virtues. 

We thank Thee for social and national prosperity and progress, 
for valuable discoveries and multiplied inventions, for labor-saving 
machinery relieving the toiling masses, for schools, free as the 
morning light for the millions of the rising generation, for books 
and periodicals scattered like leaves of autumn over the land, for 
art and science, for freedom to worship God according to the dic- 
tates of conscience, for a church unfettered by the trammels of 
State. 

Bless, we pray Thee, the President of the United States and his 
constitutional advisers, the Judges of the Supreme Court, the Sen- 
ators and Representatives in Congress, the Governors of our sev- 
eral Commonwealths, the officers of the army and the navy, and 
all who are in official position throughout our land. Guide them, 
we pray Thee, with counsels of wisdom, and may they ever rule in 
righteousness. We ask Thy blessing to rest upon the President 
and members of the Centennial Commission, and upon those asso- 
ciated with them in the various departments, who have labored 



APPENDIX. 139 

long and earnestly, amidst anxieties and difficulties, for the success 
of this enterprise. 

May Thy special blessing, O Thou God of all the nations of the 
earth, rest upon our national guests, our visitors from distant lands. 
We welcome them to our shores, and we rejoice in their presence 
among us, whether they represent thrones, or culture, or research, 
or whether they come to exhibit the triumphs of genius and art, in 
the development of industry and in the progress of civilization. 
Preserve Thou them, we beseech Thee, in health and safety, and 
in due time may they be welcomed by loved ones again to their 
own, their native lands. 

Let Thy blessing rest richly on this Centennial Celebration. May 
the lives and health of all interested be precious in Thy sight. 
Preside in its assemblage. Grant that this association in effort may 
bind more closely together every part of our great Republic, so 
that our Union may be perpetual and indissoluble. Let its influ- 
ence draw the nations of earth into a happier unity. Hereafter we 
pray Thee, may all disputed questions be settled by arbitration, and 
not by the sword, and may wars forever cease among the sons of 
men. 

May the new century be better than the past. More radiant with 
the light of true philosophy, warmer with the emanations of a 
world-wide sympathy. May capital, genius and labor be freed 
from all antagonism by the establishment and application of such 
principles of justice and equity as shall reconcile diversified inter- 
ests and bind in imperishable bands all parts of society. 

We pray Thy benediction, especially on the women of America, 
who for the first time in the history of our race, take so conspicu- 
ous a place in a national celebration. May the light of their in- 
telligence, purity and enterprise shed its beams afar, until in dis- 
tant lands, their sisters may realize the beauty and glory of Chris- 
tian freedom and elevation. We beseech Thee, Almighty Father, 
that our beloved Republic may be strengthened in every element of 
true greatness, until her mission is accomplished by presenting to 
the world an illustration of the happiness of a free people, with a 
free church, in a free State, under laws of their own enactment, 
and under rulers of their own selection, acknowledging supreme 
allegiance only to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And as 
Thou didst give to one of its illustrious sons first to draw experi- 
mentally the electric spark from heaven, which has since girdled 
the globe in its celestial whispers of " Glory to God in the 
highest, peace on earth and good will to men," so to the latest 
time may the mission of America, under divine inspiration, be one 
of affection, brotherhood and love for all our race. And may the 
coming centuries be filled with the glory of our Christian civili- 
zation. 

And unto Thee, our Father, through Him whose life is the light 
of men, will we ascribe glory and praise, now and forever. Amen. 



I4-0 THE CENTENNIAL LIEERTY BELL. 

At the conclusion of the prayer at II. 20 o'clock, the hymn, 
written by John Greenleaf Whittier, music by John K. Paine, was 
sung. The chorus singers, 800 in number, rose at the signal of 
Theodore Thomas, musical director, and commenced the hymn. 
The effect was startling ; the full rich tones filled the whole space 
with melody, and before the first line was finished the people had 
broken out into applause, cheering and clapping their hands. 

The interruption was but momentary, however, and they re- 
strained their impulse until the close of the first stanza, when the 
cheering was renewed and continued until the commencement of 
the next one. Each stanza was applauded to the close, when the 
applause was renewed and continued with great warmth. 

whittier's centennial hymn. 
Our fathers' God, from out whose hand 
The centuries fall like grains of sand, 
We meet to-day, united, free, 
And loyal to our land and Thee ! 
To thank Thee for the era done, 
And trust Thee for the opening one. 

Here where of old, by Thy design, 
The fathers spake that word of Thine 
Whose echo is the glad refrain 
Of rended bolt and falling chain, 
To grace our festal time from all 
The zones of earth our guests we call. 

Be with us while the New World greets 
The Old World thronging all its streets, 
Unveiling all the triumphs won 
By art or toil beneath the sun ; 
And unto common good ordain 
This rivalship of hand and brain. 

Thou who hast here in concord furled 
The war flags of a gathered world, 
Beneath our western skies fulfil 
The Orient's mission of good will, 
And, freighted with Love's golden fleece, 
Send back the Argonauts of peace. 

For art and labor met in truce, 
For beauty made the bride of use, 
We thank Thee, while withal we crave 
The austere virtues strong to save, 
The honor proof to place or gold, 
The manhood never bought or sold. 



APPENDIX. 141 

O ! make Thou us, through centuries long 
In peace secure, in justice strong; 
Around our gift of freedom draw 
The safeguards of Thy righteous law, 
And, cast in some diviner mould, 
Let the new cycle shame the old ! 

Mr. John Welsh, the President of the Centennial Board of Fi- 
nance, then made the presentation of the buildings. His appear- 
ance was greeted with hearty cheers of recognition by the people, 
who recognized the importance of the work accomplished by the 
Board of which he is the honored President. The presentation 
was made in the following language : 

MR. WELSH'S ADDRESS. 

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the United States Centennial 
Commission : In the presence of the Government of the United 
States, and of the several distinguished bodies by whom we are 
surrounded, and in behalf of the Centennial Board of Finance, I 
greet you. 

In readiness at the appointed time, I have the honor to announce 
to you that, under your supervision, and in accordance with the 
plans fixed and established by you, we have erected the build- 
ings belonging to us, and have made all the arrangements 
devolving on us necessary for the opening of the " International 
Exhibition." We hereby now formally appropriate them for their 
intended occupation ; and we hold ourselves ready to make all fur- 
ther arrangements that may be needed for carrying into full and 
complete effect all the requirements of the acts of Congress rela- 
ting to the Exhibition. 

For a like purpose, we also appropriate the buildings belonging 
to the State of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia, erected 
by us at their bidding, to wit: Memorial Hall, Machinery Hall and 
Horticultural Hall. These and other substantial offerings stand as 
the evidence of their patriotic co-operation. To the United States 
of America, through Congress, we are indebted for the aid which 
crowned our success. 

In addition to those to which I have just referred, there are 
other beautiful and convenient edifices, which have been erected 
by the representatives of foreign nations, by State authority and by 
individuals, which are also devoted to the purposes of the Exhibi- 
tion. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : If in the past we have met with disap- 
pointments, difficulties and trials, they have been overcome by a 
consciousness that no sacrifice can be too great which is made to 
honor the memories of those who brought our nation into being. 
This commemoration of the events of 1776 excites our present 



142 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

gratitude. The assemblage here to-day of so many foreign repre- 
sentatives uniting with us in this reverential tribute is our reward. 

We congratulate you on the occurrence of this day. Many of 
the nations have gathered here in peaceful competition. Each 
may profit by the association. This exhibition is but a school ; the 
more thoroughly its lessons are learned the greater will be the gain, 
and, when it shall have been closed, if by that study the nations 
engaged in it shall have learned respect for each other, then it 
may be hoped that veneration for Him who rules on high will be- 
come universal, and the angels' song once more be heard — 
*' Glory to God in the highest, 
And on earth peace, good will towards men." 

At the conclusion of his remarks, President Hawley arose and 
said, li The President of the United States Centennial Commission 
accepts the trust from the President of the Centennial Board of Fi- 
nance, and expresses the obligations of the Commission for the 
great services rendered by the Board of Finance." 

THE CANTATA. 
Then, at 11.35 o'clock, the singers arose and sang a Cantata 
composed for the occasion, the words by Sidney Lanier, of Geor- 
gia, music by Dudley Buck, of Connecticut. In this the chorus, 
orchestra, and the great organ joined. The latter is situated just 
at the rear of the singers, within the Main Building, the windows 
being opened to let out the sound. 

CANTATA. 
From this hundred-terraced height 
Sight more large with nobler light 
Ranges down yon towering years : 
Humbler smiles and lordlier tears 

Shine and fall, shine and fall, 
While old voices rise and call 
Yonder where the to-and-fro 
Weltering of my Long- Ago 
Moves about the moveless base 
Far below my resting-place. 

Mayflower, Mayflower, slowly hither flying, 
Trembling Westward o'er yon balking sea, 
Hearts within Farewell, dear England, sighing, 
Winds without, But dear in vain replying, 
Gray-lipp'd waves about thee shouted, crying — 
No ! It shall not be ! 

Jamestown, out of thee — 
Plymouth, thee — thee, Albany — 



APPENDIX. 143 

Winter cries, Ye freeze : away ! 
Fever cries, Ye burn : away ! 
Hunger cries, Ye starve : away ! 
Vengeance cries, Your graves shall stay ! 

Then old Shapes and Masks of Things, 

Framed like Faiths or clothed like Kings — 

Ghost of Goods once fleshed and fair, 

Grown foul Bads in alien air — 

War, and his most noisy lords, 

Tongued with lithe and poisoned swords — 

Error, Terror, Rage and Crime, 
All in a windy night of time 
Cried to me from land and sea, 
No! Thou shalt not be ! 

Hark! 
. Huguenots whispering yea in the dark, 
Puritans answering yea in the dark ! 
Yea, like an arrow shot true to his mark, 
Darts through the tyrannous heart of denial. 
Patience and Labor and solemn-souled Trial, 
Foiled, still beginning, 
Soiled, but not sinning, 
Toil through the stertorous death of the Night, 
Toil, when wild brother-wars new dark the light, 
Toil, and forgive, and kiss o'er, and replight. 

Now Praise to God's oft-granted grace, 

Now Praise to Man's undaunted face, 

Despite the land, despite the sea, 

I was : I am : and I shall be — 
How long, Good Angel, O how long ? 
Sing me from Heaven a man's own song ! 

" Long as thine Art shall love true love, 
Long as thy Science truth shall know, 
Long as thine Eagle harms no Dove, 
Long as thy Law by law shall grow, 
Long as thy God is God above, 
Thy brother every man below, 
So long, dear Land of all my love, 
Thy name shall shine, thy fame shall glow !" 

O Music, from this height of time my World unfold : 
In thy large signals all men's hearts Man's Heart behold : 
Mid-heaven unroll thy chords as friendly flags unfurled, 
And wave the world's best lover's welcome to the World. 






144 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

This production was received with great favor by the people ; 
some of the piano passages were not heard, and when long the au- 
dience became restless and noisy, but their attention was at once 
arrested when the sound again caught the ear. Some particularly 
fine passages were applauded. 

The multitude became at once quiet when Myron H. Whitney, 
of Boston, the celebrated basso, took his position in front of Mr. 
Thomas, preparatory to singing the bass solo. There was the 
greatest curiosity to see whether a single voice, and that of the 
greatest volume, could be heard under the circumstances. When 
Mr. Whitney commenced his part, however, it was recognized at 
once that he was the man for the occasion. Every note was dis- 
tinctly heard, even to the lowest with which the solo terminated, 
and which called forth such a burst of applause as probably the 
performer had never heard before. The chorus was resumed, but 
the people were not satisfied, and the applause was continued until 
after bowing his acknowledgments again and again, he consented 
to repeat the part. This he did equally as well as at first, and the 
performance was greeted as before. 

General Joseph R. Hawley, the President of the Commission, 
then made the Presentation of the Exhibition to the President of 
the United States. As he arose he was received with cheers. The 
presentation was made in the following language : 

THE PRESENTATION BY GEN. HAWLEY. 

Mr. President : — Five years ago the President of the United 
States declared it fitting that '* the completion of the first century 
of our national existence should be commemorated by an exhibi- 
tion of the natural resources of the country and their development, 
and of its progress in those arts which benefit mankind," and or- 
dered that an exhibition of American and foreign arts, products and 
manufactures should be held, under the auspices of the Govern- 
ment of the United States, in the city of Philadelphia, in the year 
eighteen hundred and seventy-six. To put into effect the several 
laws relating to the Exhibition, the United States Centennial Com- 
mission was constituted, composed of two Commissioners from each 
State and Territory, nominated by their respective Governors, and 
appointed by the President. The Congress also created our auxi- 
liary and associate corporation, the Centennial Board of Finance, 
whose unexpectedly heavy burdens have been nobly borne. A re- 
markable and prolonged disturbance of the finances and industries 
of the country has greatly magnified the task ; but we hope for a 
favorable judgment of the degree of success attained. July 4, 
1873, this ground was dedicated to its present uses. Twenty-one 
months ago this Memorial Hall was begun. All the other one 
hundred and eighty buildings within the enclosure have been erected 
within twelve months. All the buildings embraced in the plans of 
the Commission itself are finished. The demands of applicants 



APPENDIX. 145 

exceeded the space, and strenuous and continuous efforts have been 
made to get every exhibit ready in time. 

By general consent the Exhibition is appropriately held in the 
City of Brotherly Love. Yonder, almost within your view, stands 
the venerated edifice wherein occurred the event this work is de- 
signed to commemorate, and the hall in which the first Continental 
Congress assembled. Within the present limits of this great park 
were the homes of eminent patriots of that era, where Washington 
and his associates received generous hospitality and able counsel. 
You have observed the surpassing beauty of the situation placed at 
our disposal. In harmony with all this fitness is the liberal sup- 
port given the enterprise by the State, the city, and the people in- 
dividually. 

In the name of the United States you extended a respectful and 
cordial invitation to the governments of other nations to be repre- 
sented and to participate in this Exhibition. You know the very 
acceptable terms in which they responded, from even the most dis- 
tant regions. Their commissioners are here, and you win soon see 
with what energy and brilliancy they have entered upon this friend- 
ly competition in the arts of peace. 

It has been the fervent hope of the Commission that, during this 
festival year, the people from all States and sections, of all creeds 
and churches, all parties and classes, burying all resentments, would 
come up together to this birthplace of our liberties to study the evi- 
dence of our resources; to measure the progress of an hundred 
years; and to examine to our profit the wonderful products of 
other lands, but especially to join hands in perfect fraternity and 
promise the God of our fathers that the new century shall surpass 
the old in the true glories of civilization. And furthermore, that 
from the association here of welcome visitors from all nations, 
there may result not alone great benefits to invention, manufac- 
tures, agriculture, trade and commerce, but also stronger interna- 
tional friendships and more lasting peace. 

Thus reporting to you, Mr. President, under the laws of the gov- 
ernment and the usage of similar occasions in the name of the 
United States Centennial Commission I present to your view the 
International Exhibition of 1876. 

All eyes were now turned to the President, as he arose to reply. 
When recognized he was applauded for some moments, and then 
expressed himself as follows : 

THE PRESIDENT S REPLY. 

My Fellow Countrymen ; It has been thought appropriate, upon 
this Centennial occasion, to bring together in Philadelphia, for 
popular inspection, specimens of our attainments in the industrial 
and fine arts, and in literature, science and philosophy, as well as 
in the great business of agriculture and of commerce. 

J 3 



146 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

That we may the more thoroughly appreciate the excellences and 
deficiencies of our achievements, and also give emphatic expression 
to our earnest desire to cultivate the friendship of our fellow mem- 
bers of this great family of nations, the enlightened agricultural, com- 
mercial and manufacturing people of the world have been invited to 
sendhither corresponding specimens of their skill to exhibit on equal 
terms in friendly competition with our own. To this invitation 
they have generously responded ; for so doing we render them our 
hearty thanks. 

The beauty and utility of the contributions will this day be sub- 
mitted to your inspection by the Managers of the Exhibition. We 
are glad to know that a view of specimens of the skill of all na- 
tions will afford to you unalloyed pleasure, as well as yield to you 
a valuable practical knowledge of so many of the remarkable re- 
sults of the wonderful skill existing in enlightened communities. 

One hundred years ago our country was new and but partially 
settled. Our necessities have compelled us to chiefly expend our 
means and time in felling forests, subduing prairies, building 
dwellings, factories, ships, docks, warehouses, roads, canals, ma- 
chinery, etc., etc. Most of our schools, churches, libraries and 
asylums have been established within an hundred years. Burdened 
by these great primal works of necessity, which could not be 
pretermitted, we yet have done what this Exhibition will show in 
the direction of rivaling older and more advanced nations in 
law, medicine and theology ; in science, literature, philosophy 
and the fine arts. Whilst proud of what we have done we regret 
that we have not done more. Our achievements have been great 
enough, however, to make it easy for our people to acknowledge 
superior merit wherever found. 

And now, fellow-citizens, I hope a careful examination of what 
is about to be exhibited to you will not only inspire you with a 
profound respect for the skill and taste of our friends from other 
nations, but also satisfy you with the attainments made by our own 
people during the past one hundred years. I invoke your gener- 
ous co-operation with the worthy commissioners to secure a brilliant 
success to this International Exhibition, and to make the stay of our 
foreign visitors — to whom we extend a hearty welcome — both pro- 
fitable and pleasant to them. 

I declare the International Exhibition now open. 

At the conclusion of the President's remarks, which was at ex- 
actly 12 o'clock, at a given signal the American flag was run up 
on the staff at the highest peak of the Main Exhibition Building. 

At the conclusion of this ceremony, which was accompanied by 
a salute of artillery of 100 guns on George's Hill, the assemblage 
commenced to disperse, some towards one building and some 
to another, according as they wished to obtain a more favorable 
position to see the dignitaries on some portion of the route traveled 



APPENDIX. 



147 



by the procession, or, despairing of that, to witness the displays in 
the various buildings. It took a long time, nearly an hour, before 
the large platform in front of Memorial Hall was emptied and the 
space between it and the Main Building was sufficiently cleared to 
obtain an unobstructed passage. 

THE PROCESSION THROUGH THE BUILDINGS. 

The ceremonies being concluded amid the plaudits of the mul- 
titude, the line of march was taken up for the Main Exposition 
Building. Chief Marshal Dixey called off the order of the proces- 
sion as follows : 

President Grant, the Empress of Brazil, and Mr. Alfred T. Go- 
shorn, Director General. 
The Emperor of Brazil and Mrs. President Grant. 
The Brazilian Minister, Senor Borges, and wife. 
Col. Fred. D. Grant and Mrs. Waite. 
Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite. 
Hon. T. W. Ferry, The President of the Senate. 
Joseph R. Hawley, President of the United States Centennial Com- 
mission. 
John Welsh, President of the Centennial Board of Finance. 
Daniel J. Morrell, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the 
Commission. 
John L. Campbell, Secretary of the Commission. 
Frederick Fraley, Secretary of the Board of Finance. 
The Cabinet. 
The Supreme Court of the United States. 
The Diplomatic Corps. 
The Foreign Commissioners of the Exhibition. 
The United States Centennial Commission. 
Chiefs of Bureaus of Administration. 
The Centennial Board of Finance. 
Henry Pettit and Joseph M. Wilson, Engineer and Architects of 

Main Building and Machinery Hall. 
H. J. Schwarzmann, Architect of Memorial Hall and Horticultural 

Hall. 
James H. Windrim, Architect of Agricultural Hall and the United 

States Government Building. 
Richard J. Dobbins, Contractor of Main Building and Memorial 

Hall. 

Philip Quigley, Contractor, Machinery Hall and Agricultural 

Hall. 

Aaron Doane, Contractor, Government Building. 

The Board of the United States Executive Department. 

The Women's Centennial Executive Committee. 

The Fairmount Park Commission. 

The Governors of the States and Territories. 



148 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

The Senate of the United States. 

The House of Representatives. 

The General of the Army and Staff. 

The Admiral of the Navy and Staff. 

The Lieutenant- General of the Army and Staff. 

The Vice-Admiral of the Navy and Staff. 

The General Officers of the Army and Staffs. 

The Rear-Admirals and Commodores of the Navy and Staffs. 

Officers of the Army and Navy. 

Military and Naval Officers of Foreign Governments. 

Consuls-General and Consuls of Foreign Governments. 

Judges of the United States Courts, and 

Officers of the United States Executive Bureaus. 

Officers of the United States Coast Survey. 

Officers of the Naval Observatory 

Officers of the Smithsonian Institution. 

The Board of Judges of Awards of the Exhibition. 

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. 

The Legislature of Pennsylvania. 

The Judiciary of Pennsylvania. 

The Board of State Supervisors of Pennsylvania. 

The State Board of Pennsylvania. 

The Mayor of Philadelphia. 

The Mayors of Cities. 

The Select and Common Councils of Philadelphia. 

The State Centennial Boards. 

The Women's Centennial Committees. 

The Advisory and Co-operating Committees and Boards of the 

Commission. 

International Regatta Committees, and Committee of the National 

Rifle Association. 

Officers of the City Department of Philadelphia. 

At the head of the line were Colonel H. D. B. Clay, command- 
ing the Centennial Guard, and his Adjutant, Captain Hoyt, who, 
with a detail of men, kept the passage way clear. The Presiden- 
tial party was flanked on both sides by a platoon of City Troopers, 
who also did duty along the line of the procession. The cortege 
entered the Main Exposition Building at the north entrance — the 
President and Gov. Hartranft receiving the enthusiastic applause 
of the multitude as they passed through the open space between 
the platform and the entrance door. Passing along the centre 
transept of the building, the party soon reached the nave, stopping 
as they did so, at the headquarters of the French Commission, 
where the Delegate and Resident Commissioner, were presented by 
Director General Goshorn to President Grant. 

Following the northern and easterly direction the departments 



APPENDIX. I49 

of Switzerland and Belgium were next reached, and the same cer- 
emonies were gone through with. 

The beautiful building erected for the Brazilian exhibit was next 
arrived at, and here the party stopped for a few minutes. The 
Emperor Dom Pedro, and his Empress was saluted by the Com- 
missioners in charge, who came forward and kissed the hands of 
both imperial personages. The Empress stepped inside of the 
doorway for a moment and chatted with the Emperor with reference 
to the display made. 

At the Department of the Netherlands, to the east of that of Bra- 
zil, the usual introductions were gone through with, the soldiers 
drawn up in line in front of it saluting the President as he passed. 

The Department of Mexico was next passed, and its Commis- 
sioners presented to the President. 

At this point the procession left the nave, and taking the next to 
easternmost cross avenue went on to the south avenue. Here it 
passed through the greater portion of the United States exhibit. 
Arriving at the centre transept it passed along it to the nave, leav- 
ing to the left the German headquarters, where the officers of the 
commission, who were in waiting, were presented to the President. 
Next the Austrian department was inspected and then the procession 
made a detour to the north, taking in the exhibits of the English 
colonies, Canada, India, Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and 
New Zealand, the commissioners from each of which were in front 
of their respective departments as the party passed by. 

Returning to the nave, the English Department was reached, 
and here the President passed some minutes in conversation with 
Col. Sanford and Prof. Archer, the English Commissioners. Nor- 
way and Sweden were the next departments passed on the right 
hand side of the line, whilst to the left the departments of Austria 
and Russia were brought to the President's notice. In front of the 
department of Spain, and on the same side of the nave, the entire 
Spanish Commission stood in a body with the Spanish Engineers 
drawn up in line behind them. There a short stop was made, the 
President engaging in conversation with several of the Commis- 
sioners. Denmark was next passed, and then the procession came 
to a halt in front of the departments of Turkey and Egypt. 

Here another detour was made, and the departments of the 
Sandwich Islands, Portugal and Tunis, situated in the extreme 
southwestern end of the building, were visited, and their Commis- 
sioners presented to the President. Retracing its steps to the 
nave, the procession passed the departments of Japan, China, Peru, 
Chili and the Argentine Republic, on the left hand, and the Italian 
exhibit on the right hand, leaving the building by the western 
main entrance. When the Main building was first reached, the 
great organ at the far end began playing, '' Hail to the Chief," and 
the people who had obtained access to the edifice were loud in their 

13* 



I50 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

greetings of the Nation's Executive. As one by one the several 
foreign departments were passed and the Commissioners in charge 
presented to the President, these latter fell into line in the rear of 
the Diplomatic Corps, their handsome court costumes or pictur- 
esque national attire giving additional brilliancy to the suite follow- 
ing in the wake of the President. 

The crowd inside was somewhat difficult to restrain, and it was 
with no little trouble that the passage way for the President's party 
was kept clear. When the nave was reached for the last time the 
City Troop took the lead of the procession, and by their arduous 
efforts succeeded in clearing a way from the western doorway over 
to Machinery Hall. In the open plaza a vast multitude had assem- 
bled, and was with difficulty restrained by the militia who had 
been there stationed. At this point the President and a portion of 
the procession reviewed the military forces and inspected the Bar- 
tholdi Fountain. They were then joined by the balance of the 
party, and proceeded to Machinery Hall. 

Entering the main eastern door of Machinery Hall amid the 
chiming of bells and the plaudits of the people, the procession 
moved slowly, without stopping, up the main aisle and halted at 
the large Corliss engine. President Grant and wife, the Emperor 
and Empress of Brazil, Col. Fred. Grant, Gen. Hawley, Director 
General Goshorn and John Welsh, Esq. , then advanced and as- 
cended to the platform surrounding the engine. All being in readi- 
ness, President Grant and the Emperor, Dom Pedro, grasped the han- 
dles of the acting valves, and at a concerted moment turned them. 
There was a slight hissing of steam audible and then the huge walk- 
ing beam was seen to slowly move, and gathering momentum, was 
soon in full play. 

At the first visible movement of the powerful and ponderous ma- 
chinery a cheer was given, and for a brief space the eyes of all 
were fastened upon the engine. They had enjoyed the scene but 
a little while when Gen. Hawley announced that the reception by 
the President, in the judges' hall, would be omitted. After leaving 
the great engine the procession moved straight down the main ave- 
nue in a westerly direction, passing on its way the several foreign 
departments. Meanwhile all the machinery in the vast building 
had begun running, and the din and clatter of the hundreds of ma- 
chines united with the music of the bands without, and the ringing 
of the chimes within, made it a confusion of sounds long to be re- 
membered. When the western entrance of the building was 
reached the procession passed out, and the President, Secretary 
Fish, Mrs. Grant, Colonel Fred. Grant and Secretary of War and 
Mrs. Taft got into carriages, and were driven to the residence of 
Mr. Childs, whose guests they were. 

The procession then broke up, the Emperor and Empress of Bra- 
zil and suite going up toward the lake and visiting the building in 



APPENDIX. 151 

that vicinity and the rest of the distinguished guests and visitors 
going their several ways. 

As announced by General Hawley in Machinery Hall, the 
reception by President Grant in Judges' Hall did not come off, and 
the hundreds of persons who had gone thither for the purpose of 
meeting the Nation's Executive were much disappointed at the 
change in the programme. 

THE NUMBER OF VISITORS. 

An approximate idea only of the number of visitors could be 
reached, owing to the fact that the counting up of admissions 
had not been completed. The numbers most generally agreed 
upon, however, were from 250,000 to 300,000. Inquiry at 
the Pennsylvania Railroad and Reading Railroad ticket offices 
failed to elicit even an approximate statement as to the number of 
passengers to the grounds over these lines, because of the fact that 
the railway officials had been unable themselves to ascertain how 
many trains had come in. 

It was ascertained, however, that the travel over these lines was 
very great. Excursion trains were run from various portions of the 
country, and there was a large number of visitors from distantsec- 
tions. The horse-railway accommodations proved to be entirely 
inadequate for the occasion. A large number of persons were 
forced to walk out to the grounds and a still larger number were 
forced to walk in even after dark. The local trains of the Penn- 
sylvania and Reading Railroads were similarly overloaded. 

POLICE ARRANGEMENTS. 

Col. Clay, Chief of the Centennial Police, reports only six ar- 
rests, and those of suspected pickpockets against whom there was 
no definite proof. One pickpocket was arrested outside the 
grounds, but the parties could not be 'induced to appear against 
him. Within two weeks it is expected that a committing magis- 
trate will hold his court on the grounds and give witnesses an op- 
portunity to testify against thieves without unnecessary delay. 

Several persons, men and women, were overcome by their ex- 
ertions, or were crushed in the throng and were carried off the 
grounds; but it is believed no serious injury resulted. About one 
o'clock an alarm of fire was given, whether with or without cause 
is not known, but the fire apparatus was directed to the neighbor- 
hood of Horticultural Hall. A large-sized extinguisher drawn by 
two horses, a steamer and a hose cart started for the scene. The 
route was over a clay mortar road which had not been paved, and 
the poor horses soon found themselves hopelessly mired with the 
heavy apparatus. Fortunately their services were not needed. 



152 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE ADOPTION 

OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 

JULY 4, 1876. 

This day constituted the portal, through which the Government 
of the United States passed from the first Century of its existence 
into the second. It was an occasion, the appreciable recurrence of 
which can occur but once in the life-time of an American citizen, 
and forty millions of people demonstrated their realization of the 
fact, by the abandonment of their usual vocations, so far as cir- 
cumstances would permit, and joining in the grand manifestations 
of patriotism and national rejoicing, that distinguished the day 
above all others, throughout the whole extent of our vast domain. 

The occasion was, for the time being, the controlling power of 
the nation, and all the people yielded to its potent influence; 
every imaginable means of manifesting their devotion to its impor- 
tance was called into requisition, and such universal, spontaneous 
and enthusiastic demonstrations of rejoicing and patriotic zeal this 
country and possibly no other ever saw. 

While every borough, town and hamlet within our borders — had 
its celebration, and was the centre of attraction for its surrounding 
inhabitants, The Centennial City, with its magnificent, and stu- 
pendous International Exhibition, of the products, the skill 
and industry of the entire civilized world, was the grand focal 
centre, to which gathered the teeming myriads from every point of 
the compass in our own country, and the thousands of admiring 
and astonished visitors from foreign lands. 

Here the Municipal authorities, Military and Civic organizations, 
families and individuals, all united and vied with each other, in 
their endeavors to make the demonstrations commensurate with 
the occasion they were designed to celebrate. Indeed active 
preparations for a great and unusual event, were observable on the 
day previous to the Fourth. The city was again decorated with 
flags, of our own country and all others — which were displayed in 
greater profusion, if possible, than on the Tenth of May, the open- 
ing day of the great exhibition. Triumphal arches and platforms 
for observation, were erected along the route designated for the 
grand torch-light procession in the evening. The City Govern- 
ment, numerous civic organizations, various associations of trades- 
men, Societies and Orders for the promotion of benevolent, social 
and other laudable objects, and the citizens generally, had been for 
weeks preparing for this demonstration, which for vastness of ex- 
tent and brilliancy of display was never before equalled in this 
city, nor probably in any other. As well as a valedictory recogni- 
tion of the out-going century, with its vast achievements, its mani- 
fold and inestimable blessings conferred upon mankind, it was also 
an introductory greeting to the in-coming one, and the inaugura- 



APPENDIX. 



*53 



tion of such salutatory ceremonies and proceedings, of the ensuing 
day, as should render it memorable throughout the century, the in- 
gress of which they were designed to honor. 

The whole atmosphere of the country seemed to be vital with 
the spirit of celebrations from the very inception of the year. 
Every important event that transpired during the year 1776 was re- 
membered and honored with a centennial celebration of the day 
of its occurrence. These local celebrations were the subject of 
observation and remark, long before the great swelling heart of the 
nation began to pulsate with the recent emotions that found vent 
in the patriotic demonstrations that signalized the Fourth of July 
1876. L. 

The Public Ledger, issued Tuesday, July 4, 1876, speaks 
of this Demonstration as follows : — The Close of the Century 
— Scenes hi the City — The Illuminations and Decorations — 
The Great Torchlight Demonstration — The Scene at Inde- 
pendence Hall and Square — Ringing in the New Century. For 
the last few days the incoming stream of visitors to the city has 
been swelling hour by hour, until the capacities of the railroad and 
transportation companies have been severely taxed to provide ac- 
commodations for the thousands of Americans and foreigners who 
turn their faces towards Philadelphia to see the rising of the sun 
on the Second Century of American Independence, at the spot 
where the Republic had its birth. Within the past week the 
throng upon the already crowded thoroughfares in the centre of 
the city has steadily increased until yesterday afternoon locomo- 
tion was difficult and haste impossible. 

The principal hotels were filled to their utmost capacity long be- 
fore dark, and many an unfortunate late comer had trouble to 
find a place to lay his head. The streets were resonant with 
the blare of brass bands, and gay with the many colored uniforms 
of the visiting military from every portion of the country. In the 
middle of the day the procession of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic passed through the streets, attracting much attention, and ad- 
ding greatly to the general animation of the scene. 

The weather was very hot, but the burning rays of the sun were 
tempered by a delightful breeze, which prevented the heat from be- 
coming unendurable, and in the evening the weather for this time 
of the year was quite comfortable. 

The display of bunting was simply wonderful. Great as was the 
exhibition on Washington's Birthday and on Opening Day, it was, 
if possible, exceeded on this occasion. In every direction the eye 
could turn flags by thousands met the sight, and the vista along the 
streets was lost in clouds of brilliantly colored bunting. Banks, offices, 
churches, stores, public buildings and private residences, all were 
gay with flags, streamers and drapery. The decoration of private 
residences was especially noticeable, and citizens of every class 
united in testifying by outward signs their patriotic fervor. 



154 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY CELL. 

Indeed, the dwelling-houses from which one or more flags were 
not hung out in honor of the day were the few exceptions to the 
almost universal rule. Along the main retail business streets the 
store-keepers arranged their windows with draperies of red, white 
and blue, or exhibited conspicuously goods and fabrics of the na- 
tional colors. Many of these displays were in exquisite taste, but 
the number was so great that to particularize in any case might be 
invidious and unjust. A feature of the general decoration, that 
has not been seen in Philadelphia for many years, was the erection 
of triumphal arches for the great civic torchlight procession of the 
evening to pass under. 

In the evening the illumination of the city was as general as the 
display of bunting. All the hotels and nearly all the prominent 
buildings were brilliantly lighted up. Particularly was this the 
case along the route of the torchlight procession. The residents 
of North Broad street made common cause, in order to make their 
beautiful thoroughfare surpass, if possible, any other portion of the 
city in brightness. Every house was lighted up and the windows 
thrown wide open. 

Early in the evening all the streets on the route of the proces- 
sion were filled with people who stood patiently for hours waiting 
for the pageant. Independence Hall and Square were the princi- 
pal objective points, and all the street cars running in that direc- 
tion brought crowded loads and deposited them at Chestnut street. 
The Ledger building was decked in its holiday suit of flags from 
each window, and the light from two powerful calcium lanterns 
was thrown upon the building, making that corner one of the most 
brilliant neighborhoods in the city. 

Over the door of Independence Hall was hung an allegorical 
painting of "the Century plant," representing a tree whose roots 
are the thirteen original States, the butt the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, the trunk the Constitution, and the branches the various 
States; a framework of one hundred circles, representing the years 
of the century, surrounded the whole design, which was illumina- 
ted with a calcium light. 

The statue of Franklin, in front of the Pennsylvania Library 
Building, was also lighted up by the rays of a calcium light from 
the rooms of the Philosophical Society opposite. 

Around the State House the crowd kept thickening all the eve- 
ning until before the procession came along the entire block on 
Chestnut street was a solid mass of humanity. To provide against 
emergencies the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department had sta- 
tioned an engine, with steam up, a hose cart and truck, on Fifth 
street, below Chestnut. Hose connections were also made with 
the plugs in the square, to be ready for use at a moment's notice. 

In Independence Square another immense throng of people ga- 
thered and remained all the evening. At half-past II o'clock a 



APPENDIX. 155 

concert was commenced by Beck's Philadelphia Band, which was 
posted on the platform, and performed a number of choice selec- 
tions under the direction of M. F. Aledo. The hymn, " My Coun- 
try, 'Tis of Thee," was sung by a large chorus, under the leader- 
ship of Mr. William Wolsieffer. The entire throng in the square 
joined by invitation in the singing. The familiar tune was excel- 
lently rendered, the crowd following perfectly the tune as marked 
by the conductor's baton. 

The piece was timed so that the last verse ended at exactly 12 
o'clock, and the sound of the singing had scarcely died out when 
the voice of the new bell was heard ringing out the old and ring- 
ing in the new. Simultaneously with the first stroke of the bell, 
there was a perfect feu de joie of pistols, crackers, Roman candles 
and colored fires, and a tremendous shouting almost drowned the 
sound of the bell. Thirteen peals were rung, after which the Dox- 
ology, " Praise God from whom all blessings flow," was sung. 

On the Chestnut street front a similar scene of excitement was 
witnessed at the stroke of midnight, the crowd shouting themselves 
hoarse with cheers. 

Soon after twelve o'clock the procession commenced to pass the 
stand in front of Independence Hall, where the members of Coun- 
cil and their families were posted. At this point the crowd was 
fearful, and a lady was pushed against the wheel of one of the 
carriages containing the Spanish officers, and she was only saved 
from being run over by being lifted bodily into the carriage and 
carried along with the line. 

The demonstrations of applause were frequent and hearty, and as 
the carriages bearing distinguished foreigners, or Governors of 
States passed by, they were greeted with hearty cheers. 

The crowd stood its ground manfully until the entire long -pro- 
cession had passed by. 



156 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

THE CENTENNIAL FOURTH OF JULY— THE CELE- 
BRATION OF THE BIRTH OF THE NEW CENTURY 
—THE MILITARY, THE TOTAL ABSTINENCE 
SOCIETIES, AND THE MONSTER MASS 
MEETING.— THE FIREWORKS IN THE 
PARK.— INCIDENTS AND OCCUR- 
RENCES IN THE STREETS. 

Never in the history of the American nation has the recurrence 
of the Fourth of July been received with such enthusiasm and fer- 
vor as that just passed, and it is probable that it will be very many 
years before such another celebration will be seen in Philadelphia. 
Commencing with the great civic pageant of Monday evening, and 
ending with the display of fireworks in the Park on Tuesday night, it 
was one continuous jubilee. The number of strangers in the city 
was greater than at any of the recent great gatherings. The 
large cities within easy distance sent a large proportion of their 
population to Philadelphia during the few days immediately prece- 
ding the Fourth. 

The arrivals were more generally from the surrounding 
country within a radius of say fifty miles, the trains arriving 
crowded in the morning and departing overloaded in the evening. 
The same torrid sun shone bright and clear, as on the previous 
day, but the same pleasant breeze relieved the intense heat and 
rendered the atmosphere bearable and even comfortable to 'the 
stroller on the shady sidewalk. Business was more generally 
suspended than usual on the Fourth of July and everybody 
made holiday. The streets were filled with people during the en- 
tire day, particularly early in the morning when the military and 
Catholic parades and the solemnities in Independence Square were 
drawing their thousands of spectators, and late in the afternoon and 
evening after the heat of the day was passed. 

A pleasant and noticeable feature was the very small amount of 
drunkenness or disorder, considering the excitement and the 
crowded condition of the city. The venders of " ice cold lemon- 
ade, five cents a glass," and " ice water, one cent a glass," were 
out in force and shouted the refreshing properties of their bever- 
ages in stentorian tones into the ears of passers-by, driving a flour- 
ishing trade amongst the heated and thirsty throng. 

The same gay suit of bunting that has been described in detail 
several times lately, decked the city, the display being greater, 
if possible, than upon the previous day. The horses of the street 
cars carried flags in their harness, and the cars of most of the roads 
were also ornamented with flags. Along the riverfront the shipping 
was all gaily ornamented with bunting, and the visiting men of- 
war in the stream displayed all their flags in honor of the day. 



APPENDIX. 157 

Early in the morning the day was ushered in by the firing of 
guns from the war vessels and other localities, and the ringing of 
bells and chimes in various portions of the city. The inevitable 
fire cracker of course played a prominent part in the celebration, 
and there was the average number of accidents from the careless 
use of firearms. The chimes of St. Stephen's, St. Peter's and 
Christ Church were rung morning, noon and evening, and attract- 
ed much attention, Beck's Philadelphia Band was engaged by 
the city authorities, and posted on the platform in Independence 
Square, and gave a free concert during the entire day, except while 
the ceremonies were going on in the morning. The music was ex- 
cellent, and gave great satisfaction to large numbers of people who 
congregated in the square. 

Immediately after the close of the ceremonies on the platform, 
the Emperor, Dom Pedro, who had occupied a place among the 
distinguished guests, proceeded to the Ledger office, where he was 
received and shown through the entire establishment and intro- 
duced to the chiefs of the several departments. On leaving which 
he was recognized by the crowd in the street, and his carriage 
drove off amid a hearty hurrah. 

Ceremonies in Independence Square — Reading of the Original 
Declaration — The Oration — The Music — The Distinguished Guests 
and the Great Multitude. — The exercises in Independence Square 
were the most completely successful of any yet held in this sum- 
mer of anniversaries. The arrangements were most perfect, and 
were carried out so successfully that no hitch occurred from first to 
last. 

THE DISTINGUISHED GUESTS. 

The day was a beautiful one, and although very warm, a good 
breeze from the Southwest prevented much suffering. The guests 
were nearly all in their places at the hour of 10, set for the com- 
mencement of the exercises. Everybody was on the watch for dis- 
tinguished people, civil and military, and as each was recognized 
they were greeted with hearty cheers, which were taken up by the 
people in the square, and repeated. Gen. Jos. R. Hawley was first 
on the ground, prepared to receive them when they should arrive. 
Among the first was Bayard Taylor ; he was soon followed by Wm. 
M. Evai-ts, of New York; Governor Bagley, of Michigan; the 
Vice President of the United States, T. W. Feny ; Governor Lip- 
pitt, of the State of Rhode Island ; Ex-Governor Noyes, of Ohio ; 
Sir Edward Thornton, British Minister; Governor Hayes, of 
Ohio; Dom Pedro II., Emperor of Brazil; Bishop Stevens, Bishop 
Simpson, John Welsh, President of the Centennial Board of Fi- 
nance ; Mayor Stokley, Presidents Smith and Caven, of City Coun- 
cils ; Prof. Archer, of the British Centennial Commission ; Gover- 
nor Hartranft, Generals Sherman, Sheridan, McDowell, Hooker, 

14 



I58 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

Benham and Merrill ; Brig. Gen. Forsythe ; Governor Oxtell, of 
New Mexico ; Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia ; Pay Inspector 
Russell, U. S. Navy, and some others well known in official cir- 
cles. Governor Hayes was one of the earliest recognized, and the 
cheers and calls for him induced him to walk back and lose him- 
self among the audience. Generals Sherman and Sheridan came 
together, and their presence was immediately recognized by cheers 
and cries for them to appear. 

By the time the platform was filled the entire square was covered 
with people packed as closely as possible. Many of the trees near 
and directly in front of the stand were filled with men who had 
climbed their rugged trunks, and in one instance the tree was so 
overloaded as to cause serious apprehensions of disaster. No acci- 
dent, however, occurred. 

A few minutes after ten o'clock, General Hawley requested all 
to be seated, and waved his handkerchief to Prof. P. S. Gilmore, 
under whose leadership was an orchestra of eighty pieces, and a 
chorus of five hundred voices selected and trained by Prof. Gilmore 
and Carl Sentz, especially for the occasion. The grand overture, 
" The Great Republic," was then played. This overture is arranged 
from the national air, Hail Columbia, by George F. Bristow, and 
as its familiar strains were recognized by the people between the 
two platforms, they greeted its production with enthusiastic cheers. 

GENERAL HAWLEY'S ADDRESS. 

General Joseph R. Hawley, President of the U. S. Centennial 
Commission, then took the stand and spoke as follows : 

Fellow-Citizens and Friends of all Nations : — One hundred years 
ago the Republic was proclaimed on this spot, and we have come 
together to celebrate to-day by peaceful and simple observance, 
our wonder, our pride and our gratitude. These presences to-day 
prove the good-will existing among all nations. To the strangers 
among us a thousand welcomes [applause] to the land we love, 
liberty, peace, justice, prosperity, and the blessing of God to all 
time. By direction of the Commission, I have the honor to an- 
nounce as the presiding officer of the day, Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, 
Vice President of the United States. 

The General was greeted with hearty applause both when he 
commenced and when he closed his remarks. 

THE VICE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 

When the audience had become sufficiently quiet, Hon. Thomas 
W. Ferry, Vice President of the United States, spoke as follows : 

Citizens of our Centennial : — The regretful absence of the Presi- 
dent of the United States casts on me the honor of presiding on this 
eventful occasion. 

Much as I value the official distinction, I prize much more the 



APPENDIX. 159 

fact that severally we hold, and successfully we maintain, the right 
to the prouder title of American citizen. It ranks all others. It 
makes office, unmakes officers, and creates States. One hundred 
years ago, in yonder historical structure, heroic statesmen sat, and 
gravely chose between royal rule and popular sovereignty. In- 
spired with the spirit which animated the Roman sage who, on the 
midst of Mars Hill, declared that of one blood were made all na- 
tions of men, those Continental sages echoed in the midst of Inde- 
pendence Hall their immortal declaration that all men are created 
free and equal. [Loud cheers.] Appealing to the God of justice 
and of battle for the rectitude and firmness of their purpose, they 
pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the 
abstract principle of the freedom and equality of the human 
race. 

To-day, in this rounding hour of a century, appealing to the 
same God of justice and of peace, we praise Him for, and pledge 
our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to maintain the spirit 
of that declaration now made universal by the fundamental law of 
the land. We, the people of the United States, in this Centennial 
memorial pay double tribute to the Most High One of grateful 
acknowledgment of the fulfilled pledge of our fathers to over- 
throw Royalism, and the other of joyful assurance of the fulfilling 
pledge of their sons to uphold Republicanism. 

The great Powers of the earth honor the spirit of American fidel- 
ity to the cause of human freedom by the exhibition of their wares 
and the presence of their titled peers, to grace and dignify the 
world's homage paid to the Centennial genius of American 
liberty. 

Three millions of people grown to forty-three millions ; and 
thirteen colonies enlarged to a nation of thirty-seven States, with 
the thirty-eighth, the Centennial State, forsaking eight territories, 
and on the threshold of the Union, abiding executive admission ; 
these attest the forecast and the majesty of the Declaration of 
1776. 

It was nothing short of the utterance of the sovereignty of man- 
hood and the worth of American citizenship. 

Its force is fast supplanting the assumption of the divine right of 
kings, by virtue of the supreme law of the nation, that the people 
alone hold the sole power to rule. Nations succeed each other in 
following the example of this Republic, and the force of American 
institutions bids fair to bring about a general reversal of the source 
of political power. 

When that period shall come, Great Britain, so magnanimous in 
presence of this auspicious era, will then, if not before, praise the 
events when American Independence was won under Washington, 
and when freedom and equality of races were achieved under Lin- 
coln and Grant. [Long-continued cheering.] Now, citizens, you 



l6o THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

will join reverently in prayer, which will be offered by the ecclesi- 
astical successor of the first Chaplain of the Continental Congress. 

PRAYER BY BISHOP STEVENS. 

Right Rev. Bishop Stevens then offered the following prayer. 

'' O Almighty and Eternal God, we come before Thee to praise 
Thy glorious name, and to give Thee most humble and hearty 
thanks for the inestimable blessings which as a nation we this day 
enjoy. 

" We devoutly recognize Thy Fatherly hand in the planting and 
nurturing of these colonies, in carrying them through the perils and 
trials of war ; in establishing them in peace, and in permitting us 
to celebrate this hundredth birthday of our Independence. We 
thank Thee, O God, that Thou didst inspire the hearts of Thy ser- 
vants to lay here the foundations of peace and liberty ; to proclaim 
here those principles which have wrought out for us such civil and 
religious blessings, and to set up here a Government which Thou 
hast crowned by Thy blessing, and guarded by Thy hand to this 
day. 

"Thou hast safely brought us to the beginning of another cen- 
tury of national life. Defend and bless us in the same, O God, 
with Thy mighty power. Give peace and prosperity in all our 
borders, unity and charity among all classes, and a true and hearty 
love of country to all our people. Keep far from us all things hurt- 
ful to the welfare of the nation, and give to us all things necessary 
for our true growth and progress. 

'* Bless, O Thou Mighty Ruler of the Universe, Thy servants to 
whom are committed the Executive, the Legislative and Judicial 
government of this land. Be pleased to direct and prosper all 
their consultations to the advancement of Thy glory, the good of 
Thy Church, the safety, honor and welfare of Thy people ; that all 
things may be so ordered and settled by their endeavors upon the 
best and surest foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and 
justice, religion and true liberty may be established among us for 
all generations. Make us to know, therefore, on this day of our 
nation's festivity, and to consider in our hearts that Thou art God 
in Heaven above, and upon the earth beneath, and that there is no 
God else beside Thee. 

" Enable us to keep Thy statutes and Thy judgments which Thou 
hast commanded, that it may go well with us and with our children ; 
that we and they may fear Thy name and obey Thy Law, and that 
Thou mayest prolong the days of this nation through all coming 
time. 

" Pour out Thy Fatherly blessing upon our whole country, upon 
all our lawful pursuits and industries, upon all our households and 
institutions of learning and benevolence, that, rejoicing in Thy 
smile, and strengthened by Thy might, this nation may go on 



APPENDIX. l6l 

through all the years of this new century a praise and a joy of the 
whole earth, so that all who look upon it may be able to say, 
4 Truly God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.' 

" These things and whatsoever else we need for our national 
preservation and perpetuity, we humbly ask in the name, and 
through the mediation of Thy dear Son, to whom with the Father 
and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all might, majesty, dominion and 
power, world without end. Amen." 

The audience stood reverently with uncovered heads while the 
prayer was being made. 

WELCOME TO ALL NATIONS. 

At a signal the following hymn was sung by the chorus, accom- 
panied by the orchestra. The words were written expressly for 
the occasion by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the music is 
« Keller's Hymn." 

I. 
Bright on the banners of lily and rose, 
Lo, the last sun of our century sets ! 
Wreath the black cannon that scowled on our foes. 
All but her friendship the Nation forgets ! 
All but her friends and their welcome forgets ! 
These are around her : But where are her foes ? 

Lo, while the sun of her century sets 
Peace with her garlands of lily and rose ! 

II. 

Welcome ! a shout like the war trumpet swell 

Wakes the wild echoes that slumber aroused I 
Welcome ! it quivers from Liberty's bell ; 

Welcome ! the walls of her temple resound ! 
Hark ! the gray walls of her temple resound ! 

Fade the far voices o'er hill-side and dell ; 
Welcome ! still whisper the echoes aroused ; 

Welcome ! still trembles on Liberty's bell ! 

III. 

Thrones of the Continent ! Isles of the Sea ! 

Yours are the garlands of peace we entwine ; 
Welcome, once more, to the land of the free, 

Shadowed alike by the palm and the pine. 
Softly they murmur, the palm and the pine ; 

" Hushed is our strife, in the land of the free ; " 
Over your children their branches entwine, 

Thrones of the Continents ! Isles of the Sea ! 

At the sound of the vocal music, which was much more easily 
14* 



1 62 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

heard than the instrumental, the multitude got quiet and listened 
attentively, applauding heartily at the close. 

THE ORIGINAL DECLARATION. 

The Vice President then introduced Richard Henry Lee, of 
Virginia, grandson of the statesman in the Continental Congress 
who moved the resolution " That these Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent." Mr. Lee was received with 
applause, and Mayor Stokley advanced with the original Declara- 
tion of Independence in a frame covered with glass, and held it 
up before the people. The cheers which it caused, both on and 
off the platform, were continuous and loud. General Hawley 
then proposed three times three cheers, which were given with a 
will. 

After some time the Mayor handed it to Mr. Lee, who read it 
deliberately. He had just reached the words " life, liberty and 
the pursuit of happiness," when the new bell tolled out the hour 
of eleven, and the reading was suspended until it had finished 
striking. At numerous points in the reading the sentiments ex- 
pressed were recognized, and approved by cheers. 

GREETING FROM BRAZIL. 

The Vice President then announced the next item on the pro- 
gramme as a contribution from Dom Pedro II., Emperor of Bra- 
zil, a hymn for the first Centennial of American Independence, 
composed by A. Carlos Gomez, of Brazil, at the request of the Empe- 
ror, who dignifies this event by his gracious presence. 

The multitude were vociferous in their calls for the Emperor, who 
finally took the stand and was introduced by the Vice President. 
Here he received a perfect ovation, and was apparently over- 
whelmed by the applause he created. He took his seat and the 
orchestra commenced. At first the instruments were but faintly 
heard, and the Emperor resumed his position on the stand with his 
ear bent to catch the music. As it progressed the audience be- 
came more quiet, and the full rich tones filled the air. The Em- 
peror testified his appreciation by his actions, and at the conclu- 
sion of the piece the applause was so long continued that the piece 
was repeated. 

THE NATIONAL ODE. 

Mr. John Welsh then introduced the well-known poet and au- 
thor, Bayard Taylor, who in a full rich voice that commanded at- 
tention, and received it, recited the following ode composed for the 
occasion : 






APPENDIX. 163 

THE NATIONAL ODE. 

July 4, 1876. 

I.— I. 

Sun of the stately Day, 
Let Asia into the shadow drift, 
Let Europe bask in the ripened ray, 
And over the severing ocean lift 
A brow of broader splendor 1 
Give light to the eager eyes 
Of the Land that waits to behold thee arise ; 
The gladness of the morning lend her. 
With triumph of noon attend her, 
And the peace of the vesper skies ! 
For lo ! she cometh now 
With hope on the lip and pride on the brow, 
Stronger and dearer, and fairer, 
To smile on the love we bear her — 
To live as we dreamed her and sought her, 

Liberty's latest daughter ! 
In the clefts of the rocks, in the secret places, 

We found her traces : 
On the hills, in the crash of woods that fall, 
We heard her call: 
When the line of battle broke, 
We saw her face in the fiery smoke ; 
Through toil, and anguish, and desolation, 

We followed, and found her 
With the grace of a virgin Nation 
As a sacred zone around her I 
Who shall rejoice 
With a righteous voice, 
Far-heard through the ages, if not she ? 
For the menace is dumb that defied her, 

The doubt is dead that denied her, 
And she stands acknowledged, and strong, and free ! 

II.— I. 

Ah, hark ! the solemn undertone 
On every wind of human story blown. 

A large, divinely-moulded Fate 
Questions the right and purpose of a State, 
And in its plan sublime 

Our eras are the dust of Time. 

The far-off Yesterday of power 
Creeps back with stealthy feet, 

Invades the lordship of the hour, 
And at our banquet takes the unbidden seat. 



164 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

From all unchronicled and silent ages 
Before the Future first begot the Past, 

Till History dared at last, 
To write eternal words on granite pages ; 
From Egypt's tawny drift, and Assur's mound, 
And where, uplifted white and far, 
Earth highest yearns to meet a star, 
And man his manhood by the Ganges found — 
Imperial heads, of old millennial sway, 

And still by some pale splendor crowned, 
Chill as a corpse-light in our full-orbed day, 

In ghostly grandeur rise 
And say, through stony lips and vacant eyes : 
" Thou that assertest freedom, power and fame, 
Declare to us thy claim!" 

L— 2. 

On the shores of a Continent cast, 
She won the inviolate soil 
By loss of heirdom of all the Past, 
And faith in the royal right of Toil ! 
She planted homes on the savage sod: 
Into the wilderness lone 
She walked with fearless feet, 
In her hand the divining-rod, 
Till the veins of the mountains beat 
With fire of metal and force of stone 1 
She set the speed of the river-head 

To turn the mills of her bread : 
She drove her plowshare deep 
Through the prairie's thousand-centuried sleep; 
To the South, and West, and North, 
She called Pathfinder forth, 
Her faithful and sole companion, 
Where the flushed Sierra, snowy-starred, 

Her way to the sunset barred, 
And the nameless rivers in thunder and foam 
Channelled the terrible canyon ! 
Nor paused, till her uttermost home 
Was built, in the smile of a softer sky 

And the glory of beauty still to be, 
Where the haunted waves of Asia die 

On the strand of the world-wide sea ! 

II.— 2. 

The race is conquering, 
Some fierce Titanic joy of conquest knows ; 



APPENDIX. 165 

Whether in veins of serf or king, 
Our ancient blood beats restless in repose. 

Challenge of Nature unsubdued 
Awaits not man's defiant answer long; 

For hardship, even as wrong, 
Provokes the level-eyed, heroic mood. 
This for herself she did; but that which lies, 

As over earth the skies, 
Bending all forms in one benignant blow, — 

Crowned conscience, tender care, 
Justice, that answers every bondman's prayer, 
Freedom where Faith may lead or Thought may dare. 

The power of minds that know, 

Passion of hearts that feel, 

Purchased by blood and woe, 

Guarded by fire and steel, 
Hath she secured. "What blazon on her shield, 

In the clear Century's light 

Shines to the world revealed, 
Declaring nobler triumph, born of Right? 

1—3. 

Foreseen in the vision of sages, 
Foretold when martyrs bled, 

She was born of the longing of ages, 
By the truth of the noble dead 
And the faith of the living fed ! 

No blood in her lightest veins 

Frets at remembered chains, 
Nor shame of bondage has bowed her head. 

In her form and features still 

The unblenching Puritan will, 

Cavalier honor, Huguenot grace, 

The Quaker truth and sweetness, 
And the strength of the danger-girdled race 
Of Holland, blend in a proud completeness, 
From the homes of all where her being began, 

She took what she gave to Man : 

Justice, that knew no station, 
Belief as soul decreed, 

Free air for aspiration, 
Free force for independent deed ! 

She takes, but to give again, 
As the sea returns the rivers in rain : 
And gathers the chosen of her seed 
From the hunted of every crown and creed. 
Her Germany dwells by a gentler Rhine ; 



1 66 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

Her Ireland sees the old sunburst shine; 
Her France pursues some dream divine; 
Her Norway keeps his mountain pine; 
Her Italy waits by the western brine; 

And, broad- based under all, 
Is planted England's oaken-hearted mood, 

As rich in fortitude 
As e'er went worldward from the island wall I 

Fused in her candid light, 
To one strong race all races here unite : 
Tongues melt in hers, hereditary foemen 
Forget their sword and slogan, kith and clan, 

'Twas glory, once, to be a Roman : 
She makes it glory, now, to be a Man I 

IL-3. 

Bow down! 
Doff thine Ionian crown ! 

One hour forget 
The glory, and recall the debt. 

Make expiation, 

Of humbler mood, 
For the pride of thine exultation 
O'er peril conquered and strife subdued ! 
But half the right is wrested 

When victory yields her prize, 
And half the marrow tested 

When old endurance dies. 
In the sight of them that love thee, 
Bow to the Greater above thee ! 

He faileth not to smite 
The idle ownership of Right, 
Nor spares to sinews fresh from trial, 
And virtues schooled in long denial, 
The tests that wait for thee 
In larger perils of prosperity. 

Here at the Century's awful shrine, 
Bow to thy fathers' God — and thine ! 

I.-4. 

Behold! she bendeth now, 
Humbling the chaplet of her hundred years ; 
There is a solemn sweetness on her brow, 
And in her eyes are sacred tears. 
Can she forget, 
In present joy, the burden of her debt, 



APPENDIX. 167 

When for a captive race 

She grandly staked and won 
The total promise of her power begun, 

And bared her bosom's grace 
To the sharp wound that inly tortures yet ? 

Can she forget 
The million graves her young devotion set, 

The hands that clasp above 
From either side, in sad returning love ? 
Can she forget, 

Here where the Ruler of to-day, 
The citizen of to-morrow, 
And equal thousands to rejoice and pray 

Beside these holy walls are met, 
Her birth-cry, mixed of keenest bliss and sorrow ? 

Where on July's immortal morn 

Held forth, the people saw her head 
And shouted to the world : " The King is dead, 

But lo! the heir is born !" 
When fire of youth, and sober trust of age, 

In farmer, soldier, priest and sage, 
Arose and cast upon her 
Baptismal garments — never robes so fair 

Clad prince in old-world air. — 
Their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor! 

II.-4. 
Arise ! Recrown thy head, 
Radiant with blessings of the Dead! 
Bear from this hallowed place 
The prayer that purifies thy lips, 
The light of courage that defies eclipse, 
The rose of Man's new morning on thy face ! 

Let no iconoclast 
Invade thy rising Pantheon of the Past, 

To make a blank where Adams stood, 
To touch the Fathers' sheathed and sacred blade, 
Spoil crowns on Jefferson and Franklin laid. 
Or wash from Freedom's feet the stain of Lincoln's blood ! 
Hearken, as from that haunted hall 
Their voices call : 
" We lived and died for thee ; 
We greatly dared that thou mights't be; 
So, from thy children still 
We claim denials which at last fulfill, 
And freedom yielded to preserve thee free ! 
Beside clear-hearted Right 



1 68 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

That smiles at Power's uplifted rod, 

Plant Duties that requite, 

And Order that sustains, upon thy sod. 

And stand in stainless might 
Above all self, and only less than God ?" 

III.— I. 

Here may thy solemn challenge end, 
All-proving Past, and each discordance die 

Of doubtful augury, 
Or in one choral with the Present blend, 

And that half-heard, sweet harmony 
Of something nobler that our sons may see ! 

Though poignant memories burn 
Of days that were, and may again return 
"When thy fleet foot, O Huntress of the Woods, 
The slippery brinks of danger knew, 

And dim the eyesight grew 
That was so sure in thine old solitudes, — 

Yet stays some richer sense 
Won from the mixture of thine elements, 

To guide the vagrant scheme, 
And winnow truth from each conflicting dream ! 

Yet in thy blood shall live 
Some force unspent, some essence primitive, 
To seize the highest use of things ; 
For Fate to mould thee to her plan, 

Denied thee food of kings; 
Withheld the udder and the orchard fruits, 

Fed thee with savage roots, 
And forced thy harsher milk from barren breasts of man ! 

III.— 2. 

O sacred Woman-Form. 
Of the first People's need and passion wrought — 

No thin, pale ghost of Thought, 
But fair as morning and as heart's blood warm — 
Wearing thy priestly tiara on Judah's hills; 
Clear-eyed beneath Athene's helm of gold; 

Or from Rome's central seat, 
Hearing the pulses of the Continents beat 

In thunder where her legions rolled ; 
Compact of high, heroic hearts and wills, 

Whose being circles all 
The selfless aims of men, and all fulfills ; 
Thyself not free, so long as one is thrall ; 
Goddess, that as a Nation lives, 



APPENDIX. 169 

And as a Nation dies, 
That for her children as a man defies, 
And to her children as a mother gives, — 

Take our fresh fealty now 1 
No more a Chieftainess, with wampum-zone 

And feather-cinctured brow, — 
No more a new Britannia, grown 
To spread an equal banner to the breeze, 
And lift thy ti-ident o'er the double seas; 

But with unborrowed crest, 
In thine own native beauty dressed, — 
The front of pure command, the unflinching eye, thine own ! 

III.— 3- 

Look up, look forth, and on ! 

There's light in the dawning sky; 
The clouds are parting, the night is gone : 

Prepare for the work of the day ! 

Fallow thy pastures lie 

And far thy shepherds stray, 
And the fields of thy vast domain 

Are waiting for purer seed 

Of knowledge, desire, and deed, 
For keener sunshine and mellower rain ! 

But keep thy garments pure : 
Pluck them back with the old disdain, 

From touch of the hands that stain ! 

So shall thy strength endure. 
Transmute into good the gold of Gain, 
Compel to beauty thy ruder powers, 

Till the bounty of coming hours 

Shall plant, on thy fields apart, 
With the oak of Toil, the rose of Art I 

Be watchful, and keep us so : 

Be strong, and fear no foe : 

Be just, and the world will know ! 
"With the same love love us, as we give; 

And the day shall never come, 

That finds us weak or dumb 

To join and smite and cry 
In the great task, for thee to die, 
And the greater task, for thee to live! 

Bayard Taylor. 

The sentiments of the Ode were frequently applauded, and at 
the close the author was greeted with a round of cheers. 

15 



I70 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

OUR NATIONAL BANNER. 

The next piece on the musical programme was a Triumphal 
March and a chorus, entitled ''Our National Banner;" words by 
Dexter Smith, of Massachusetts, music by Sir Julius Benedict, of 
England. The following are the words : 

I. 

O'er the high and o'er the lowly 
Floats that banner bright and holy 

In the rays of freedom's sun ; 
In the nation's heart imbedded, 
O'er our Union newly wedded, 

One in all, and all in one. 

II. 

Let the banner wave forever, 
May its lustrous stars fade never 

Till the stars shall pale on high ; 
While there's right the wrong defeating, 
While there's hope in true hearts beating, 

Truth and freedom shall not die. 

III. 

As it floated long before us, 
Be it ever floating o'er us, 

O'er our land from shore to shore ; 
There are freemen yet to wave it, 
Millions who would die to save it — 

Wave it, save it, evermore. 

At the conclusion of the singing Mr. Ferry introduced the orator 
of the day, Hon. Wm. M. Evarts, of New York, who was received 
with long- continued cheering. He delivered an address, which 
occupied over an hour in the delivery, at which the audience pa- 
tiently listened to the end, though but a small portion of them were 
able to hear his voice. _ 



At the conclusion of the oration the chorus sang grandly the great 
" Hallelujah Chorus," which was probably never better rendered 
in this city, and without doubt never as well in the open air. Each 
part, each solo, was distinctly heard in any part of the square, and 
it received the applause which it so richly deserved. 

OLD HUNDREDTH. 

The exercises were then closed by singing the Doxology, the 
Old Hundredth Psalm, in which all joined. 

After the services were ended, the people insisted on their right 



APPENDIX. 



171 



to see and call out their favorites. General Sherman yielded to 
their demands and stepped upon the platform, where he was round- 
ly cheered. He was followed by General Sheridan, who was as 
warmly greeted as ever. Mr. Evarts then brought forward succes- 
sively General Hooker, General McDowell, Governor Carroll, of 
Maryland, and Governor Newell, of New Jersey; and finally 
Governor Hayes, of Ohio, Republican candidate for President, con- 
sented to appear, and the applause was deafening. It was regretted 
that Governor Tilden was not also present, that he might be simi- 
larly recognized. 

Mr. Ferry then called for cheers for Mr. Evarts, Bayard Taylor, 
Gen. Hawley, the French Minister, the British Minister, John 
Welsh, Gov. Hartranft (who had been often called for but did not 
respond), and asked that in the absence of the Chief Magistrate, 
three times three should be given for him. The hospitality of 
Philadelphia also received three cheers, and finally the people in- 
sisted on giving three cheers for the Vice President. The cheers 
were all given until everybody was hoarse, and then the multitude 
broke up slowly and dispersed, some to their homes and others to 
hear the music in the square. At the close of the ceremonies the 
new bell tolled out the number of States. 



THE UNVEILING OF THE HUMBOLDT MONUMENT 
IN THE PARK. 

One of the most interesting features of the celebration was the un- 
veiling of the monument to Alexander Von Humboldt inFairmount 
Park, near Girard avenue bridge, which took place at eight o'clock 
in the morning. The Humboldt Monument Association was organ- 
ized in 1869, the corner-stone of the monument being laid on Sep- 
tember 19 of that year, under the presidency of the late William J. 
Horstmann. The monument consists of a granite pedestal, upon 
which is a bronze statue of Humboldt, nine feet in height, cast in 
Berlin fx>m a model by the distinguished sculptor, Frederick 
Drake, at a cost of $13,000. The entire cost of the monument is 
$18,000. 

At half-past seven o'clock a procession was formed at the Fair- 
mount avenue entrance to the Park. Lorenz Herbert acted as 
Chief Marshal, and the following gentlemen as assistants : Dr. G. 
Kellner, G. F. Kolb, Wilhelm Holdmann, Karl Schwarz, Tuisko 
G. Thomas, Robert Friedlander, Heinrich C. Sticlee, Joseph 
Kinike, George Doll and Dr. Oswald Seidensticker. 

The procession moved to the monument, where there was a large 
crowd assembled, among whom was a chorus, composed of the 
members of the various German musical societies, under the leader- 
ship of Mr. William Kunzel, and a large orchestra, under Mr. H. 
Oberkirsch. The proceedings were opened by an overture by the 



172 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

orchestra, and the singing by the chorus of Beethoven's " Die Ehre 
Gottes." 

MR. GEORGE K. ZIEGLER, 

the President of the Humboldt Monument Association, then ad- 
dressed the assemblage in German. The following is a translation 
of his speech : 

Gentlemen : — This is the second time this organization meets on 
these grounds. The first time was on the 19th day of September, 
1869, on which day my predecessor and lamented friend, William 
Horstmann, officiated at the ceremonies of laying the foundation 
for a monument to be erected to a man who was one of the bright- 
est ornaments of literature, and of wnom every German may be 
justly proud. Of his life and works you will hear more particular- 
ly from speakers who have kindly consented to address you on this 
occasion. His great work has been completed, and we assemble 
to-day for the purpose of dedicating it. 

" Now, gentlemen, as President of the Humboldt Association of 
the city of Philadelphia, I unveil the statue of Alexander Von 
Humboldt." 

At this point Mr. Ziegler pulled the rope which held the flag 
around the statue, causing it to fall off and expose the figure to the 
view of the assemblage, who gave three hearty cheers. Mr. Zieg- 
ler then continued his address, speaking this time in English, as 
follows : 

Gentlemen of Fairmount Park Commission : — Some years ago 
you generously granted this ground to a combination of German 
citizens of this city, for the purpose of erecting the statue of a man 
who was one of the greatest naturalists, and I may say who has 
done as much for science as any man of modern times, and the 
foundation for the monument was laid with appropriate ceremonies 
on the 19th of September, 1869. The work has been, after 
some considerable exertion, finally completed, as you will perceive 
from the beautiful statue now unveiled in your presence. 

Now, gentlemen, on this great and glorious day, the Centennial 
anniversary of American Independence, I, as President of the 
Humboldt Association, and in the name of said Association, do 
present to you, and through you to the public of the city of Phila- 
delphia, this statue of Alexander Von Humboldt; and let me add 
that the German citizens of the city of Philadelphia in erecting this 
monument in commemoration of their great countryman have done 
so also as a mark of esteem and loyalty to their adopted country. 
Abt's beautiful song il Deutsches Voelker Gebet" was then sung, 
after which Dr. G. Kellner was introduced, and spoke in German. 
His address is translated as follows : 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : The beautiful work 
that we have been preparing for years has finally been completed. 
All that can be said in its praise gains additional weight, from the 



APPENDIX. 1 73 

fact that we are permitted to accomplish it in this glorious year, 
and celebrate its dedication on the most glorious day of the year. 

As German-Americans, as true sons of the new great Fatherland, 
with thankful inspiration we take places in the ranks of our fellow- 
citizens. With them we praise ourselves, happy to belong to the 
sovereign people of the greatest and most free republic, that 
has not, nor ever did have, her equal in the history of the world. 
The German element in this country does not consist only of na- 
turalized citizens. Several millions who belong to the German 
race trace their origin from the German pioneers who came over 
almost at the same time with the English Pilgrim Fathers of the 
Mayflower. Under the good and great William Penn, and to- 
gether with his companions in faith, they founded cities and vil- 
lages, cultivated the ground, and created the rich colony of Pennsyl- 
vania. In a few years we shall celebrate the two-hundredth anni- 
versary of the foundation of the first Germantown on American 
ground, the foundation of Germantown, which is almost cotempo- 
rary with Philadelphia. Thousands and tens of thousands of Ger- 
man-American heroes have helped to fight the battles of the Revo- 
lution, and assisted in establishing the freedom of the original 
thirteen States. All over the country where German- Americans 
celebrate to-day, together with their other fellow-citizens, this great 
day of liberation from European yoke, they celebrate also the 
memory of the heroic deeds of their German- American forefathers 
and predecessors, the deeds of their own great dead, who, like 
the Muhlenbergs, Steuben and De Kalb and others, belonged to the 
bravest and most renowned associates in arms of Washington. 

But the foundation of the great Republic was not a deed exclu- 
sively of American significance— it was a powerful cosmopolitan 
and historic event. With the Fourth of July, 1776, begins the 
latest chapter in the history of the world — the period of the eman- 
cipation of nations, of the civic law and labor state — and hand in 
hand with it took place a powerful revolution in the entire fields 
of industry. Originating in European ideas and struggles, but 
born on the maiden soil of the New World, through France she 
made her circuit through the old World, Her motto is "Reli- 
gious and political liberty and sovereignty of the people j" and her 
deeds are the emancipation of the laboring classes from the rule of 
privileged castes and of religious and worldly orders, the opening 
of continents and oceans for colonization, industry and commerce. 
Universal industry and universal commerce, and the fraternity of all 
civilized nations are her results. The Medusa head of War, de- 
stroying nations, this curse of barbarbic times, does still at times lift 
his distorted countentenance ; but culture is ever tugging along at 
her work, which must lead to permanent liberty and permanent 
peace. 

One of her most glorious means is the Industrial International 

15* 



174 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

Exhibition, which leads the competition of nations on the peaceful 
field of industry, art, science and invention. Great minds have 
laid the path for these movements of culture and stood or stand 
still as leaders at their head, men of labor, of invention, art and 
science. And among them standest thou as hero and master, lofty 
man, whose metallic figure we have just dedicated. One of the 
greatest of German origin, thou art, nevertheless, like the work of 
culture to which your life was dedicated, the property of all coun- 
tries and nations, a cosmopolitan in the fullest acceptation of the 
term. 

Here in free nature's temple we have erected his monument, for 
to her belong his works and workings, whose picture he presented 
to an astonished world in his Cosmos, the modern Bible of nature, 
in such a great and masterly manner. "What the wisdom and the 
industry of all times have discovered in relation to that which ex- 
ists to the entire whole of nature, he has translated to the people 
from the hieroglyphic language of scientists in inspired and inspir- 
ing words. As teacher of the world, as prophet, he stands a lofty 
figure, before which the learned of all people bow in thankful re- 
verence, whom they praise as a liberator from night and igno- 
rance. 

If such is the voice of the whole intellectual world, how much 
more must we, his countrymen, honor him, upon whom in first line 
part of the radiance of his renown must fall. The cosmopolitan 
and citizen of the world, Humboldt is and remains above all things, 
a true German. If, indeed, he derives the elegance and activity 
of diction in his master works from a French school, and if his 
perseverance, his speculative turn of mind and his lively interest 
in all public affairs have a truly American type, yet his thorough- 
ness, his philosophic depth, his extensive mind, his restless inves- 
tigation, are genuine German traits of character. 

This is the man whom we revere as our ideal of the most exten- 
sive culture, as the representative of true modern civilization. Not 
the conqueror, not the man of the sword, not kings and generals 
are the men who march at the head of modern times. Their war- 
like deeds may be ever so great and glorious, they can only be 
recognized as a necessary evil. Far above Washington, the great 
general, stands Washington, the great citizen and statesman. And 
high above all warlike heroes of the German race stands Alexander 
Humboldt, the great sage and teacher of nations. Through our 
reverence for him we desire to show that we German-American 
citizens recognize free, liberal education as the fundamental princi- 
ple of freedom. Therefore our public education must tend to 
break the pitiable yoke of ignorant prejudice, and remove that prin- 
ciple of mind-killing training, which is the enemy of all mental 
culture and strength of character and the source of all immorality, 
untruth, hypocrisy and corruption. His monument is our gift to 



APPENDIX. 175 

the grand Centennial birthday of this nation. May it stand as a 
mark of gratitude of German love and German citizens towards the 
country, and its blessings for all time to come, and also as a monu- 
ment of the finest art. For it is the creation of one of the greatest 
sculptors of the age, of Frederick Drake, of Berlin. 

Great deeds and mighty results have filled the first century of 
our great republic. But freedom will never have a safe and sure 
abidance as long as the mental liberation is not made the watch- 
word of the nation. All the political and social reforms which are 
so urgently demanded can only be accomplished on the basis of 
education and culture. And the natural sciences, in their power- 
ful development above all, are the things that free the mind. 
" Nature is the empire of freedom," says Humboldt. Man is a son 
of Nature, and he need only follow this, his mother, and he will 
become free like her. 

May this be the march of development which shall characterize 
the second century of the republic, and upon which the German 
element in the United States may steadfastly take the lead. Alex- 
ander Humboldt's shining example be our guide and teacher in 
this. If we shall be able to be of service to our great republic in 
our endeavors we shall prove ourselves happy. And if the nation., 
as may be safely hoped, will advance on this track of development 
with determined energy, then the existence of our great republic 
will be secured for all time, and our most remote descendants will 
Still call out with us, Honor and Glory to our Great Fatherland. 
Long live the Union. 

The orchestra then performed several selections, after which 

MR. CHARLES S. KEYSER 

was introduced. He spoke in English as follows : The glare of 
the torches has faded against the midnight sky; the solemn tolling 
of the bells has ceased ; the old centuiy is laid away forever. 
This glorious morn of a grander century for freedom and humanity 
uplifts its golden crown, and amid the clangor of trumpets and the 
thunder of cannon, and the joyous welcoming of millions of free- 
men, goes on in its course from State to State to the farthest ocean 
— its western throne. We here discharge in our place the fipst duty 
of this grander century — honor to the great dead who have made 
all its nobler promises possible for humanity. Let each bring 
tribute to his own, for all are worthy of remembrance in this 
eternally memorable hour. Let the kings who wisely reigned, 
and by absolute forms and power absolutely wrought out their 
people's destiny to worthy results, be honored. Let the priests be 
honored who faithfully served, whatever creed, looking to man's 
happier state — wherever. Let the warriors be honored, who on 
battle-fields, or by the Delaware or Rhine achieved by bloody 
swords their land's deliverance. But, above all these, above all 



176 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

who held or wore the mitre, sword or crown, we set the high-priest 
of nature and humanity — the man of the German race — Humboldt 
— the man of the dead past and of the living century. 

Beyond the pale of narrow creeds ; beyond the antipathies of 
race ; beyond the enduring hostilities of kingdoms and States, he 
leads with the new century the further and final deliverance of the 
human race. He goes before us, a gigantic form, weird-like and 
huge — the man of future and surer revelations. To Him we build 
no monument ; it is his form alone we set before us and make en- 
dure. His monument is everywhere. These clouds that waft 
along the summer air are its canopy ; and the far infinite stars and 
all revealing sun its light by day and night. This earth on which 
we stand is the foundation of- His throne — these rocks and trees 
and farther mountains and eternal seas keep in remembrance His 
name. Great High Priest ! of the material from which the earlier 
races conceived their God. Thou wert made in all their nobler 
attributes, Thou hadst a larger share — exhaustless life, immense, 
encompassing brain, self-abnegation for a world's saving from ig- 
norance, which alone is death without salvation — these are written 
in Thy name. O, ye noble men of the centuries forever gone ! O, 
ye who wrought out the deliverance of this earth's happier land 
from intolerance and the throne ! O, ye forgotten dead who have 
suffered in all ages that error robed and crowned with its long in- 
heritance might die, be with us in this work, to his name and fame 
who moved and lived with all the powers we yet allot as to gods, 
in the great laws of nature ; that so humanity, freed from the ser- 
vitude of the world's long centuries, might come at the last to its own, 
the universe and man. To the contemplation of these boundaries 
of human knowledge Humboldt raised humanity — and by the only 
sure pathway led them on to all its future possibilities. Even in 
this hour, beyond all others, be honor done to his name. 

The ceremonies concluded with a chorus and a grand march. 



THE TOTAL ABSTINENCE BENEVOLENT UNION DE- 
MONSTRATION. 

The dedication of the Catholic Total Abstinence Centennial 
Fountain, erected by the societies of the United States, and in- 
tended as a tribute to freedom and religious liberty, and the accom- 
panying parade, was a most splendid feature of the celebration 
The procession was uniformly a creditable display, and won ad- 
miration from all observers. The line was composed of about 
one hundred and fifty local organizations, escorting the na- 
tional delegates of the Annual Convention of the Union, and 
could not have numbered less than six thousand men. The ap- 
pearance of the entire line was interesting, the uniforms and rega- 



APPENDIX. 177 

lia worn being handsome and appropriate, and the excellent bear- 
ing of the men attracting general comment. 

As a fitting ending to the grand demonstration, the dedication 
of the fountain in the Centennial Grounds was made the occasion 
for some entertaining ceremonies, including addresses by the Hon. 
John Lee Carroll, Governor of Maryland, the great-grandson of 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and others. 

In the morning at 7.30 o'clock the delegates to the National 
Convention, about 300 in number, marched from the Grand Ex- 
hibition Hotel and were escorted from the corner of Eighteenth 
and Vine streets by the several Cathedral Temperance organiza- 
tions, to the Cathedral, where they attended Pontifical High Mass, 
Archbishop Wood being assisted in the services by the Very Rev. 
James A. Corcoran, Assistant Priest; the Rev. James E. Mulholland 
and the Rev. John J. Elcock, Deacons of Honor ; the Rev. Daniel 
Brennan, Deacon of the Mass, and the Rev. Kilian Colt, sub-Deacon. 

The sermon was by Bishop John Quinlan, of Mobile,, the text 
being " Praise the Lord, all ye Nations ; all ye people, Praise the 
Lord." He spoke of the occasion as one of thankfulness to God 
for the Nation's prosperity in the century gone, the Catholic 
Church, particularly, having received many blessings that have 
swelled her numbers from twenty-five thousand adherents to seven 
millions, and while it was a time of civil rejoicing, it was also a 
time for earnest prayer for a continuance of Divine favor. He 
sketched in a cursory way the steps that have marked the ad- 
vancement of civilization, and referred earnestly to the blessings of 
religious liberty. 

After brief but warmly eulogistic references to the religious 
patriotism of Charles Carroll and the honorable Christian character 
of John Barry, both types of Catholicism, he closed by praying to 
Almighty God to make permanent the Government and put wis- 
dom into the hearts of our statesmen, that they may enact wise 
laws. 

The music was beautifully rendered under the direction of Mr. 
Michael Cross, the organist at the Cathedral. 

The following was the programme : Von Weber's Mass in G, 
complete; before the sermon, "Veni Sancti," by B. Can: at the 
Offertorium, " Laudamus Omnes in Domino." 

Quartette and chorus by A. Diabelli, solos by Misses Lopez, 
Cassiday, Jackson, Mrs. Heinrich, Mrs. Rattay, Messrs. Heusler 
and Heinrich. 

After the Mass the Roman Te Deum was chaunted by the stu- 
dents of St. Charles' Seminary, under the direction of Mr. E. 
McGonigle. 

After the services the delegates were assigned places on a plat- 
form on the sidewalk in front of the Cathedral, where, with Arch- 
bishop Wood, Bishop Ireland, of Minnesota (a Vice President of 



178 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

the Union), Governor Carroll and members of the Clergy, the 
procession was reviewed as it passed on its way up Eighteenth 
street, saluting the stand and the Archiepiscopal residence. 

The parade formed on North Broad street, the right resting on 
Callowhill, and the left on Spring Garden. It moved shortly after 
10 o'clock, and proceeded over the route previously chosen. 

The procession was a most brilliant and imposing pageant, 
making a gorgeous display, and was conducted with a precision 
that elicited universal admiration. 

At the Cathedral a large Papal flag was suspended above the 
street, between the American and the Irish flags. From this point a 
large number of persons viewed the parade. 

When the last society had passed the Cathedral, the delegates 
fell into line, and continued along the route of the parade as far as 
Green and Twenty-third streets. There special cars of the Read- 
ing Railroad conveyed the delegates to the Exhibition grounds. 
The procession entered the grounds at the gate north of the east 
end of the Main Building, shortly before I P. M., where it was re- 
joined by the delegates. 

Upon reaching the fountain, the delegates and speakers took 
seats upon the platform, while the societies were dismissed, and 
the members gathered in the circular roadway surrounding the 
structure. There was also a large gathering of other spectators. 
Seated upon the platform were, besides those who participated in 
the exercises, Bishop Ireland, the Rev. Lawrence Walsh, the Pres- 
ident of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of Connecticut, Rev. 
Christopher Hughes, the President of the Union of Providence, 
R. L, and other clergymen. 

The Ceremonies 
Began with the rendition of "Hail Columbia" by the Holy 
Family Cornet Band, after which the 

REV. PATRICK BYRNE, 

of Trenton, N. J., the President of the Catholic Total Abstinence 
Union in America, advanced and delivered the dedication address. 
He said, in substance : I have the honor to dedicate this fountain 
to-day to civil and religious liberty. I feel exceedingly honored 
by the duty imposed upon me on account of the extraordinary fes- 
tival which we are here to celebrate, the Centennial of Ameri- 
can Independence. It is also extraordinary in its Catholic signi- 
ficance, and I am deeply impressed. Last night I heard a bell 
proclaim the joy of the nation, and I then thought of another bell, 
which one hundred years ago, sounded notes of mightier im- 
portance, which brought these results of to-day. I thought of 
the tones of that call for liberty — a call that reverberated over 
the whole land. That was a call to men for a high and holy 



APPENDIX. 



179 






purpose, irrespective of creeds ; one in which all would share 
equally the blessings which it proposed to impart I need not tell 
you what the response to that call was, for you all remember the 
Declaration of Independence, And we are here to-day to taste of 
that liberty, and we contribute this structure for the perpetuation 
of liberty to all men, dedicating it to blessed liberty. Among those 
who responded most willingly and liberally in the defence of re- 
ligious liberty none were foremost of the Catholics. It was Mary- 
land that made the famous declaration that there should be religi- 
ous liberty, and her history since that time shows no departure from 
the spirit and purpose of her sires. We show to her our apprecia- 
tion by this monument, and wish it to be perpetuated. We will 
unveil the statue of an Irishman and a true American citizen — the 
saucy Jack Barry, father of the American Navy. We will also 
soon unveil another statue of that man who dared to sign his name 
and residence on the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll, 
of Carrollton. 

Upon the conclusion of these remarks the statue of Commodore 
Barry was exposed to view, amid great applause. 

MR. JOHN H. CAMPBELL, 

the President of the Archdiocesan Union, was introduced by 
Father Byrne, and spoke briefly, explaining the origin of the pro- 
ject for the construction of the fountain, growing out of the desire on 
the part of the Catholic Temperance Societies to participate in some 
appropriate way in the celebration of the Centennial anniversary. 
The Catholic people, he said, wished to show the nation that they 
are as much attached to republican institutions as any other class, 
and they were represented there with all the rights of American 
citizens to proclaim that they are just as ready to uphold the Ameri- 
can flag to-day as were Barry and his compatriots in the earlier 
times. 

DR. MICHAEL O'HARA, 

chairman of the Committee on construction, then presented the 
fountain to the National Union with the following speech : 

To-day closes the most important century of history. This day 
a nation of freemen with one heart honors its founders. A year 
ago, Mr. President, I received from your hands this laborer's spade 
and turned the first sod. To-day witnesses the completed work. 

The ground on which it stands is already dedicated. The Le- 
gislature has not alone given it to the citizens of this Republic, but 
also as a public common for the whole world. We can commem- 
orate with peculiar interest this great day, as we have devoted our- 
selves to illustrate the fact that men 

" May rise on stepping-stones 
Of their dead selves to higher things." 



l8o THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

We appreciate the spirit of the great dead, who by their lives 
of self-denial and earnest effort for the common good, hoped no- 
bly, loved truly and fought successfully. The harvest of their 
honest faith and manly courage, we are now reaping. It is fitting 
that in the midst of the World's Exhibition of material force, we 
celebrate and consecrate the greatest need of nations, moral force. 
We agree with Emerson, " The true test of civilization is not the 
census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops ; no, but the kind of 
man the country turns out." 

At your bidding, gentlemen, the working-man has embodied the 
emotions of your hearts in this enduring "sermon in "stone," in 
perpetual memory of the principles of the Revolution — the brother- 
hood and equality of all men before God. 

The Centennial Committee of the Archdiocesan Union submit 
to you the result of their labors. They give thanks to our beloved 
Archbishop and the Reverend Clergy of this and other States, who 
have aided personally this great work, not forgetting grateful men- 
tion of "Old Ireland," who did not forget us. Thanks to our 
honored head for the noble part he has taken for this grand monu- 
ment. Thanks for the unflagging zeal and energy of the head of 
this Archdiocesan Union, its officers and members who, by their 
contributions in a time of great distress, all the more worthy for 
the great sacrifice, made the work secure. Thanks to the Work- 
ing Committee, headed by its indefatigable Chairman, John A. 
Daly. Thanks to the many others — and here we must make 
special mention of Charles S. Keyser, Esq., who, from the projec- 
tion of the idea from the artist's brain to the present moment, has 
given us freely his sympathy and cheer, his time and labor. We 
greet ye all with thanks for the common interest and aid by which 
it has been made ready for dedication, and, above and beyond all, 
most loyally do we honor the noble " Union of America," by 
whose decree the work was begun. It is the work of no one man, 
no one society, no one city ; and before the last statue arrives we 
hope it will be the work of every society, yea, of every individual 
member of the Union of America. 

Though the work appears incomplete, it will no less certainly 
be done, so our mission alike unfinished is the no less sure with the 
blessing of Heaven in its result. We war against a soul-stupefy- 
ing agent, a deadener of the heart, and a darkener of the reason. 
We must here resolve to fight with renewed vigor and energy as 
long as there is hope of victory. We will take new life from 
Moses, from Barry, from the Carrolls, from Father Mathew, and 
the many others to fight on — to make free the soul of man. 

The water will now flow from this fountain for the first time in 
the new century, the clear, cold water will run in many streams from 
the rocky mound, glittering in God's sunshine. You will drink of 
God's great gift, and give praise that you have seen this day. And 



APPENDIX. l8l 

while you drink think upon the war-cry of the Irish chieftain Hef- 
fernan ; it were well it were engraved on our souls. 

" Ceart ne suass aboo." 
The right from above forever. 

Governor Carroll being called upon, said that it was not in the 
programme that he should speak, and he feared if he should un- 
dertake to address a temperance gathering, away from home, the 
people in his own State would be apt to say, " That man has two 
colors." I will, however, thank you, he said, for your reception. 
I shall not speak of the sentiment of this occasion, for it beams on 
every face. The people, I know, will thank you for what you 
have done. You have commemorated American Independence, 
and sought to unite shattered feelings. For ages the people have 
striven to gain religious liberty, and gradually it has been wrung 
from crowned heads, until now the feudal system is only a mass of 
rubbish, and the people say to those who wield kingly prerogatives, 
u Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther." And now, one word 
about the religion we honor. If any man tells you that the Catho- 
lic is not loyal to his country, tell him to go forth and inscribe the 
allegation on the tombs of those we celebrate, and the marble there 
will blush for him if he cannot blush for himself. 

The ceremony of turning on the water was then performed by 
Governor Carroll and Mr. Charles S. Keyser, of this city, the 
sudden outpouring of the numerous jets being accompanied by long 
applause. 

The last speaker was the 

REV. JAMES O'REILLY, 
Spiritual Director of the Archdiocesan Union, representing Arch- 
bishop Wood, who delivered the following address : 

As spiritual director of the Archdiocesan Union of the C. T. A. 
B. Society, of Philadelphia, it is my pleasing duty to open the ded- 
icatory services which have brought us together on the great and 
glorious Centennial celebration of our existence as an independent 
republic. Just one year ago we met on this spot and commenced 
the magnificent work we are now about to dedicate ; and, although 
we have not been able, on account of the amount of labor required 
in its execution to present it to-day a complete gift to our beloved 
land, yet what has been done is well done, and the perfect monu- 
ment will soon stand an honor to the cause we represent, the 
grandest tribute offered on the Centennial festival in America for 
the most glorious object, in this its first public park. 

If our fellow-citizens throughout the length and breadth of the 
land rejoice on this day and are exceeding glad, if they testify in 
every way they can their thanksgiving for the priceless gifts they 
owe to that declaration of July 4th, 1776 >; if, like the Romans of 
old, whose proudest title was " civis Romanus sum," they feel that 



1 82 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

they have had as just reason to boast that they are Americans, 
knowing well that it is not an empty name, but honorable and be- 
loved the whole world over. My brethren of the Temperance 
Union, as their fellow-countrymen, rejoice with them and express 
the same gratitude, the same loyal, affectionate and heartfelt devo- 
tion for this, your beloved country, whether it be your native land 
or the land of" your adoption. 

But you rejoice in a special manner as temperance total absti- 
nence men, to be able to dedicate on this glorious festival this fine 
monument, commemorative of a great blessing to yourselves and 
to thousands throughout the land, and as your trust, to remain for 
ages, telling your children and your children's children that 
towards the close of the first century of the Republic's existence, 
the Spirit of the Lord stirred up within the Catholic Church of these 
United States the first united public movement against intemper- 
ance ; that the movement was blessed by the Church, that in the 
first five years alone of its organization, it could show over 100,000 
men pledged to total abstinence, and that as a public testimonial of 
their gratitude for the blessings they enjoyed, not only as American 
citizens, as American Catholics, but as American Catholic temper- 
ance men — they, on the 4th of July, 1876, dedicate the great Tem- 
perance Fountain in the public park of Philadelphia. 

When the address was finished Father O'Reilly pronounced the 
following blessing in Latin and the audience dispersed : 

" O God, by whose word all things are made holy, give Thy 
blessing to this Fountain, and grant that whosoever will make use 
with thanksgiving, according to Thy will and Thy law, may, 
through the invocation of Thy most holy name, receive from Thee 
health of body and spiritual protection, through Christ our Lord. 
Amen." 

The programme was interspersed with patriotic musical selec- 
tions. 



THE MILITARY. 

The military display on the 4th was the largest and most mag- 
nificent one ever seen in this city. The army and navy was well 
represented, as well as the volunteer organizations throughout the 
country, from Vermont to South Carolina, and they consisted of 
troops composed of material of which any country might feel proud. 
All branches of the service were represented, and many of the 
regiments in line, from this city as well as abroad, displayed the 
very perfection of military discipline and drill and soldierly bear- 
ing generally. 

The streets through which the military passed were overcrowded 
with spectators, notwithstanding the fierce rays of the July sun, and 
their patience and fortitude was rewarded by witnessing a display 



APPENDIX. 183 

of arms such as will probably not be vouchsafed them again in 
this city for many years to come. 

At the conclusion of the route of the parade, the line was re- 
viewed at Broad and Chestnut streets by Governor Hartranft, just 
before the various organizations were dismissed from the parade. 
Earlier in the day the line was reviewed by General Sherman and 
General Hawley, from the small stand erected directly in front of 
Independence Hall, and on this stand were the following named 
distinguished personages : General Saigo, of the Japanese Centen- 
nial Commission ; Colonel Marlin, of Spain ; Mr. John Fernie, of 
England ; Captain Ulner, Lieutenant Brusivitz and Paymaster As- 
brink, of the Swedish frigate Balder; Capt. Ankarkrona and Lieut. 
Passe, of the Swedish corvette Norrkopping; the Governor of 
Maine, and Col. Richards, General Cilley, General Tilden and 
other members of his staff; ex-Governor Bigler, of Pennsylvania; 
Governor R. J. Lippitt, of Rhode Island ; Hon. Christ. C. Cox, 
Lieutenant-Governor of Maryland ; Rev. Dr. Cuyler, of Brooklyn, 
L. I. ; John Welsh, Esq., President of Centennial Board of Fi- 
nance; John Wanamaker, Esq., and a large number of the mem- 
bers of the Centennial Commission. There were also upon the 
platform a number of foreign Centennial Commissioners, military 
and naval officers, members of City Councils and prominent citi- 
zens generally. 

Just as General Bankson was passing the stand his horse stum- 
bled, and he fell to the ground with considerable force. It took 
about one hour and thirty minutes for the parade to pass the re- 
viewing stand, and many of the more prominent regiments were 
loudly cheered as they passed. 

The military formed on Broad street, displaying southwardly, 
and while many of the regiments and battalions formed on side 
streets, the line stretched down Broad street as far as Christian. 
By seven o'clock the various organizations commenced arriving on 
the ground, and at 9. 15 precisely, the line moved down Chestnut 
street to Fourth (passing the State House in review), down Fourth 
to Pine, up Pine to Broad. On arriving at Broad street the com- 
manding officers of the leading brigades formed in line, the right 
resting on Chestnut street, facing west. 

The commanding officer of the next brigade formed his men in 
columns of four, and moved northward on the west side and halt- 
ing at Chestnut street, formed into line facing east, and the visiting 
troops passed through to the lines and were then dismissed. 



WOMAN'S DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. 

A large meeting was held at noon at the First Unitarian Church, 
Tenth and Locust streets, under the auspices of the National Wo- 
man's Suffrage Association, for the purpose of hearing read a 



1 84 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY BELL. 

Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States, drawn 
up by the National Association. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton presided, and the meeting was 
opened with singing by the Hutchinson Family. Mrs. Stanton 
stated the object of the meeting, and proceeded to read the Decla- 
ration. The Declaration recites that while the nation is buoyant 
with patriotism, and all hearts are attuned to praise, it is with sor- 
row that the women strike the one discordant note. 

For the violation of fundamental principles of our government, 
articles of impeachment against our rulers are submitted, as 
follows ; 

Bills of attainder have been passed by the introduction of the 
word " male " into all the State constitutions. The writ of habeas 
corpus is held in operative in every State in the Union in a case of 
a married woman against her husband ; 

The right of trial by a jury of one's peers is violated with refer- 
ence to women ; 

They are taxed without representation ; 
There are unequal codes for men and women ; 
Special legislation for women has made our most sacred rights 
the football of legislative caprice. 

Representation for women has had no place in the nation's 
thought. Universal manhood suffrage imposes upon women of 
this nation a more absolute and cruel despotism than monarchy, in 
that woman finds a political master in her father, husband, brother, 
son. The Judiciary of the nation has proved itself but the echo of 
the party in power. 

The declaration concludes w : th a demand for justice, equality, 
and all the civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the 
United States. 

It is signed by the following members of the National Associa- 
tion : 

Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Paulina Wright Davis, 
Ernestine L. Rose, Clarinda I. H. Nichols, Mary Ann McClin- 
tock, Amy Post, Sarah Pugh, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn 
Gage, Clemence S. Lozier, Olympia Brown, Mathilde Franceske 
Anneke, Mathilde F. Wendt, Adelaide Thomson, Laura De Force 
Gordon, Ellen C. Sargent, Virginia L. Minor, Sara Andrews Spen- 
cer, Lillie Devereux Blake, Phoebe W. Couzins, Jane Graham 
Jones, A. Jane Dunniway, Belva A. Lockwood. 
The reading was received with applause. 

Mrs. Belva A. Lockwood, a lawyer of Washington city, de- 
livered a brief address " on the sins of our Judiciary," in the course 
of which she predicted that in 1976 women would be represented 
in the Judicial and the Legislative Halls of the Union. 

Miss M. J. Gage spoke on the writ of habeas corpus for women. 
Miss Phcebe Couzins, of St. Louis, who addressed the National 



APPENDIX. 185 

Democratic Convention at St. Louis, on behalf of the Women's 
Suffrage Association, spoke of the efforts made to have the Women's 
Declaration presented at Independence Hall, yesterday. 

Lucretia Mott spoke of the progress of the Women's Right 
movement in America and England. 

Mrs. Sarah J. Spencer, of Washington, related to the meeting 
an interview she held with General Hawley on Monday, during 
which she asked him to allow the National Association to present 
their Declaration of Rights as a part of the ceremonies at Indepen- 
dence Hall on the 4th. She stated that General Hawley declined, 
for the reason that all arrangements had been made. However, 
she said she had never been forbidden by a man to do anything 
and allowed herself to sleep without doing it. Consequently the 
declaration was presented to Vice President Ferry on the platform, 
who received it in respectful silence. This brave deed had been 
done by Miss Anthony, assisted by Mrs. Gage, Mrs. L. D. Blake 
and herself. 

After Mrs. Spencer's remarks the meeting adjourned. 



THE FIREWORKS IN THE PARK. 

Before 6 o'clock last evening the street cars on the different lines 
running to the Park began to be crowded with people who were 
bound for the Park to see the display of fireworks by Professor 
Jackson, and for the next two or three hours they were packed to 
their utmost capacity, in some cases even the roofs being covered 
with boys and men. The Reading Railroad Company also run 
frequent trains from Broad and Callowhill streets, carrying hun- 
dreds of passengers at each trip. Carriages, wagons, transfer 
coaches, and every style of conveyance was called into requisition, 
and tens of thousands of men, women and children who found it 
impossible to obtain transportation thronged the streets leading to 
the Park, making their way afoot. 

At the Park the scene was one that is to be seen but once in a 
life-time. Out Callowhill, Green, Coates, and Spring Garden 
streets, and Girard avenue came a steady stream of pedestrians 
pouring into the gates, while every street car discharged its over- 
crowded passengers to add to the throng, until by eight o'clock 
such a mass of people was assembled as has probably never before 
been seen in one place in Philadelphia, or perhaps in the country. 
The fireworks were erected on the heights between the Brown street 
and Fairmount avenue entrances, along the line of the Reading 
Railroad, facing the Schuylkill, and the whole plateau, reaching 
from the Waterworks to Lemon Hill, and from the railroad to the 
river, was a solid, densely packed mass of humanity. The hills on 
the opposite side of the river were also completely covered with 
people. 



1 86 THE CENTENNIAL LIBERTY EELL. 

The preparations for the display were complete, and everything 
seemed to promise a successful and beautiful exhibition, when about 
half-past eight o'clock, just as the performance commenced, by the 
burning of colored fires, the clouds which had rapidly been gather- 
ing began to drop rain, and vivid lightning and heavy thunder 
mingled with the artificial pyrotechnics. The immense crowd, 
however, stood their ground, and the exhibition proceeded. Sev- 
eral handsome pieces were fired, with excellent effect, and were 
loudly applauded. The lightning continued frequent and bright, 
at times dimming entirely the light of the fireworks. 

Soon the rain began to fall more rapidly, and in a few minutes 
had increased to a heavy shower. Professor Jackson and his as- 
sistants hurried things along and succeeded in setting off all the 
large pieces before they were destroyed by the rain, some of them 
being veiy elaborate and beautiful, particularly the great " Tem- 
ple of Liberty," which was last on the programme. The entire 
exhibition, however, which was intended to last two or three hours, 
was necessarily crowded into half an hour, a new piece being 
lighted before the one before it was entirely burned out, and the 
display closing about 9 o'clock. Taking the circumstance of the 
rain into consideration, however, the display was highly creditable. 

"When the last piece had been fired, then came the rush of the 
mass of people for home. In an instant every car and vehicle was 
overcrowded, and groups of people were seen running to meet in- 
coming cars to secure places for the back trip. The rain had set 
in quite heavily and only about one-fourth of the people were pro- 
vided with umbrellas, so that there was much hurry and excite- 
ment. It was simply impossible for any considerable proportion 
of the tremendous throng to secure either shelter or transportation, 
and all the highways were filled with people wet and disappointed, 
walking home through the rain. 

The Reading Railway Company and the Street Railway Com- 
panies did their best, but it would have taken the whole night to 
move the crowd in the East Park with all the means of conveyance 
available. In all the flurry and excitement, however, there seemed 
to be little or no quarreling or disorder, every one being intent on 
reaching home as soon as possible, without interfering with his 
neighbor. 

The rain also had the effect of clearing the streets down town, 
and long before midnight all that was left of their holiday appear- 
ance were the flags and transparencies. 



THE END. 






INDEX 



A 

PAGE 

Adams, John Quincy 5 

Adams, John 46, 64, 69, 70 

Adams, Samuel 28, 33, 79 

Allen, William, Mayor 7 

Amendment to the original draft of the Declaration 54 

American Eagle 20 

Annals of Philadelphia 2 

Appendix 119 

Assembly, Colonial .....8 

Provincial 3, 8 

B 

Bartlet, Josiah 74 

Bell, Centennial, Liberty 14 

Liberty, the old 1, 12 

Original, the 11 

Ringer 10 

s and Clocks, State House, the 11 

■ Removal of «. 22 

New Seybert 22 

Biographical Sketches.. 79 

Brandywine 9 

Braxton, Carter 112 

Boston, Evacuation of 34 

British Lion, the 20 

Government 3 

Burning and Cannonading of Norfolk, Va 25 

c 

Cannonading and Burning of Norfolk, Virginia 25 

Carpenters' Hall ...7» 8 

Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton 103 

Centennial Liberty Bell I, 18 

Chase, Samuel 102 

City Library, 2 

Clark, Abraham 9 1 

I8 7 



1 88 INDEX. 



PAGE 

Clock, original 17 

and Bell 17 

Removal of 22 

Clymer, George 28, 99 

Colonial Assembly 8, 71 

Committee of Correspondence 71, 73 

■ or Councils of Safety 42 

for Confederation 42 

for Preparing Declaration 42 

to treat with Foreign Powers 42 

on Restoration 6 

■ Woman's Centennial Executive 136 

Commander-in-Chief. 26 

Common Sense 28, 32 

Congress, Continental 3, 78 

First 8 

Meeting of the early 24 

The first under the Constitution 24 

Journal of. 39 

Connecticut 88 

Constitution of the United States, Ratification of 3 

Cornwallis, Lord 3 

Councils. 9 

Court, Supreme of Judicature 3 

's United States, of the 9 



Declaration of Independence 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 50 

Portraits of the Signers of 5, 53 

Published, Resolution of 53 

Action of Congress on the 49, 50 

Read in Philadelphia 54 

Delegates of New Jersey to Congress 43 

Constituting the Congress, July 4, 1776 56 

Number of, July 4 59 

August 2 59 

Delaware 101 

Denny, William Cap, Colonial Governor 7 

Dickinson's, John, Speech 43 

Dunmore, Lord,Governor of Virginia .25 

Duche, Jacob, Rev 7 



East Room 3 

Ellery, William 87 

England 9 

Epitaph Jefferson's no 

Events of 1776 > 75 

Extract of Letters from Thomas Jefferson to Samuel A. Wells 64 



INDEX. 189 

PAGB 

Extract of Letters from Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe 67 

■ ■ John Adams 67 

John Adams to Abigail, his wife 70 

F 

Festive Scenes 7 

First Floor 2 

Congress under the Constitution 24' 

Flag, the 27 

Flag, History of our 75 

Floyd, William 89 

Fox, George 28 

Franklin, Dr. Benjamin 8, 28, 93 

G 

General-in-Chief. 5 

George Washington 5^ 39 

Georgia 117 

Germantown 9 

Gerry, Elbridge 86 

Goddess of Liberty 21 

Gwinnett, Burton 117 

H 

Hall, Independence ,....1 

Carpenters' 7, 8 

Lyman 117 

Hancock, John 85 

Hart, John 91 

Harrison, Benjamin no 

Harrisburgh 4 

Hewes, Joseph 113 

Heyward, Thomas 115 

History of our Flag 75 

Historical Events of 1776 25 

Hooper, William 112 

Hopkins, Francis 43 

Stephen 86 

Hopkinson, Francis 91 

House of Representatives 8 

Huntington, Samuel 89 

I 

Inauguration of the two first Presidents.. 24 

Independence Hall 1 

Declaration of 3, 5, 50 

Instructions of Virginia to their Delegates in Congress ..41 

International Exhibition ,7, 119 



190 



INDEX. 



PAGB 



J 

Jefferson, Thomas , 64, 67, 69, 105 

K 

Kane, Kent, Elisha, M.D 6 

King's Speech, the ■ 27 

L 

Lancaster, Congress met in 3 

Legislature met in 4» 9 

Lafayette, General 4> 5 

Lee, Lightfoot Francis m 

Richard Henry 104 

Legislature, Colonial " 

Lewis, Francis 9° 

Liberty Bell « 1, 5 

Centennial • *i» 18 

Library, City 2 

Philadelphia 2 

Lincoln, Abraham 5 

Livingston, Philip 9° 

Lord Loudon 81 

Dunmore, Governor ofVirginia 25 

Lynch, Thomas, Jr 115 

M 

Magna Charta 5 

Massachusetts Bay 79 

Maryland 33. 102 

McClain, Thomas 8 

McKean, Thomas 102 

Mecca of Equal Rights 4 

Meeting of the early Congresses 24 

Middleton, Arthur 116 

Miscellany 75 

Monroe, James 64 

Morris, Lewis 9^ 

Robert 91 

Museum, National, the • 7 

N 

National Convention - • 9 

Museum, the 7 

New England 33 

Jersey. Provincial Congress, in 43 

Delegates to the General Congress 43, 90 

Hampshire 79 

Seybert's Bell and Clock 22 



INDEX. 



I 9 I 



New York 89 

No Fundamental Law ..3 

North Carolina II2 

o 

Original Declaration restored to Independence Hall 60 

Proceedings.. ..60 

P 

Paea, William 1:03 

Paine, Robert Treat ........86 

Thomas 28, 32 

Parchment e 

Peal, Charles Wilson 9 

Penn, John II4 

Pennsylvania QI 

Philadelphia Library 2 

Provincial Assembly 3 

Conference t ...8 

Public Entertainments 7 

R 

Ratification of the Constitution of the United States 3 

Read, George 101 

Removal of the Bell and Clock 22 

Representative System, their 63 

Republican form of Government 4 

Resolutions of Independence 41 

Rhode Island 86 

Rittenhouse, David, Prof. n, 28 

Rodney, Caesar 101 

Ross, George 100 

Rush, Benjamin, M.D 28, 92 

Rutledge, Edward ...114 

s 

Second Story 7 

Senate 8 

State 9 

Seybert's Clock and Bell 22 

Sherman, Roger 88 

Signers of the Declaration of Independence 50, 79 

South Carolina ...114 

Smith, James 99 

State House 1, 2, 7 

Legislature 4 

Constitution 8 

Senate 9 



192 • INDEX. 

PAGK 

Steeple, the 9 

original 9 

Stockton, Richard 90 

Stone, Thomas 103 

Supreme Court of Judicature 3 

T 

Taylor, George , ,ioo 

Temple of Liberty 4 

Thanks, vote of to Washington 39 

The Tyrant 33 

Their Representative System 63 

Thornton, Mathew 79 

u 

Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States 50 

United States Constitution , 9 

Upper Story 7 

V 

Virginia 104 

Vote of thanks to Washington 39 

w 

Walton, George 117 

Washington 4, 5, 39 

's Medal 39 

, Monument 24 

, vote of thanks to 39 

Watson's Annals 2 

Wells, Samuel A 64 

West, Benjamin 9 

Room 6 

Whipple, William 89 

Wilson, Henry 5 

James 100 

Williams, William 89 

Wings of the State House, old 2 

Witherspoon, John, D.D., LL.D 90 

Wolcott, Oliver, M.D 88 

Wythe, George 104 

Y 

York, Pennsylvania 3 

New 89 



INDEX TO APPENDIX. 



A 

PAGE 

Address, Vice President's j^S 

■ General Hawley's 158 

Arrival of Distinguished Guests 131 

Arrival of the Emperor of Brazil 129 

B 

Bishop Simpson's Prayer 137 

Stevens' 159 

Board of Finance, Centennial, the 136 

Brazil, Emperor of, arrival of the 129 

■ Greeting from - 162 

Byrne, Patrick, Rev 178 

c 

Campbell, John H, Mr 179 

Cantata 142 

Centennial Commission, United States 134 

Board of Finance 136 

Hymn, Whittier's 140 

Celebration, July 4, 1876 152, 155 

Ceremonies, the, 128, 178 

At the Grounds 122 

Opening of • 122 

Child's, Mr., Residence of, the scene at 126 

Corps Diplomatic, the 132 

Court, Supreme, the 132 

D 

Diplomatic Corps 132 

Distinguished Guests, arrival of 131 

E 

Entrance of President Grant 136 

Exhibition, the Grounds of the 120 

Opened with Grand Ceremonies, the 124 



r 7 i93 



194 INDEX TO APPENDIX. 

F 

PAGB 

Funds 

G 

General Hawley's Address 158 

Grand Holiday, a 127 

Grandest Opening Ceremonies of the Exhibition ever witnessed in 

America 124 

Grant, President, entrance of 136 

Greeting from Brazil 162 

Grounds of the Exhibition, the 120 

H 

Humboldt Monument, the unveiling of the 171 

Hymn, Centennial, Whittier's 140 

K 

Keyser, Charles S., Mr 175 

L 

Legislative Bodies and Officials 134 

M 

Military, the 182 

N 

National Ode, the 162 

Naval Officers.. 136 

Number of Visitors 151 

P 

Police Arrangements 151 

Prayer by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Simpson 137 

Bishop Stevens, by 159 

Presentation by General Hawley, the 144 

President Grant's Reply 145 

Procession, the, through the Buildings 147 

Public Ledger, etc 153 

s 

Simpson, Bishop, Rt. Rev. prayer by the 137 

Stevens', Bishop, prayer 159 

Supreme Court, the 132 

T 

The Cantata 142 



INDEX TO APPENDIX. 1 95 

PAGB 

The Centennial Celebration, of the adoption of the Declaration of 

Independence, July 4, 1876 ,... 152 

The Ceremonies 128 

The Exhibition opening by the grandest Ceremonies ever witnessed 

in America ,.124 

The Fireworks in the Park 184 

The National Ode 162 

The Number of Visitors 151 

The Original Declaration 161 

The President's Reply 145 

The Procession through the Buildings 147 

The Supreme Court 132 

The Total Abstinence Benevolent Union Demonstration 176 

The Unveiling of the Humboldt Monument in the Park 171 

u 

United States Centennial Commission 134 

V 

Vice President's Address, the 158 

Visitors, Number of I S I 

w 

Welcome to all Nations (Music) 161 

Welsh's, Mr. Address J4 1 

What other Nations have done 121 

Whittier's Centennial Hymn 14° 

Woman's Centennial Executive Committee 136 

- Declaration of Rights l8 3 

z 

Zeigler, George, Mr «i72 



SPECIAL A NNOU NCEMENT. 

Pimn^letlkal ^niiwrntg 

OF 

PHIJLADEJLPHIA, 

ITo. 1131 Bro^rn Street, 

Commences its regular Annual Sessions on the First Monday 
of October, and continues them Five Months. 

This is the only legally authorized Medical School in the United 
States, where students of both sexes can obtain a thorough Medical 
Education based upon free thought and free inquiry; where their 
instructions are unbiased by preferences for, or prejudices against, any of 
the prevailing isms, sects or pathies, which at the present day, divide the 
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ness, and decimating its power for good ; but whei*e scientific medicine, 
and every known means of cure is thoroughly taught, irrespective of the 
claims of these contentious and disorganizing elements. 



PAOTJLTY: 

JOS. S. LONGSHORE, M. D., J. E. HOLCOMB, M. D. 

Prof, of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children. Prof, of General and Special Anatomy. 

E. D. BUCKMAN, M. D., WILLIAM H. BLAKE, M. D., 

Professor of Physiology and Professor of Materia Medica, and Lecturer 

Microscopic Anatomy. on Mental and Electro-Therapeutics. 

ISAAC REHN, M. D., JAMES M. BUZZELL, M. D., 

Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology. Professor of Surgery. 

N. R. LYNCH, M. D., 

Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine. 



Lectures on special and collateral branches will be given during the 
term, by competent and able instructors. 

The facilities for studying practical anatomy, and making other 
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Terms Moderate; and opportunities for study superior to those offered 
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No traffic in diplomas, nor bogus graduation tolerated in this school. 
Candidates for the degree of M. D. must be fully competent, and worthy 
of the honor conferred. For further information, address, 

E. J>. BUCKMAN, M. P., Dean, 
1131 Brown Street, 






SPECIAL BOOK NOTICE. 



The Philadelphia System ef Obstetrics 

Containing eight hundred royal octavo pages, and near two hundred wood 
cut Engravings, in Twelve Parts. It contains all the modem advancements 
in the Obstetrical Art, and is designed for a Text Book for Students, and a 
work of reference for the Practitioner. By 

JOS. S. LONGSHORE, M. D., 

Professor of Obstetrics in the Penn Medical University of Philadelphia, 
Projector of the equal Medical Education of Women — Founder of the 
Woman's Medical College of Philadelphia, and one of the founders of the 
Female Medical College of New England, &c, &c, &c. 

FOB SALE BY THE AUTHOR 

No. 1430 North Eleventh Street, Philadelphia. 

PRICE, $6.00. 



PROFESSIONAL NOTICE. 

Prof. Jos. S. Longshore, M. D., for more than a quarter of a century 
Professor and Teacher of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, 
and the Practice of Medicine, having so far recovered from his late severe and 
protracted infirmity as to be able to partially resume his professional duties, 
would respectfully inform his friends, former patrons and the public, that he is 
prepared to devote a portion of each day to medical consultations at his office. 

Doctor L. proposes to confine his treatment especially to chronic 
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As it is exceedingly inconvenient and difficult for him to visit patients 
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<go. 1430 $orth (Eleventh (Street, 

Opposite St. Malachi's Church, 

fetwton • 1 9 and « °' clock ' A " M ' PHILADELPHIA. 

Between: j 6 and 9 , clock) P . M . 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




011 463 373 2 



